MY HUMMING BIRDS. 
119 
have no control, — or have we told the history of beings pos- 
sessing memory in common with man — gratitude, whether 
in common with him or not — ^faith, affection, bravery — a 
small touch of the loafer, as witnessed in their affection for 
the white cup with its brimming bowl, in preference to the 
meagre and bee-rifled chalices of flowers — a remarkable de- 
gree of caution in hiding their nests — of cunning in going to 
and from them — of mechanical and artistic skill in construct- 
ing their wonderful homes — of judgment in placing them 
over the water — of sagacity in using their acute senses to 
guide them back and forth on their two long yearly pil- 
grimages ? These are questions the learned will have to 
meet one day ! 
I ventured to suggest, in the first part of this article, that 
the scarlet or ruby -throated humming bird has been con- 
founded with another variety, which I have named the 
Emerald or green-backed humming bird. They are both very 
common north of Florida, and, indeed, the ruby-throat is 
said to be the only variety which visits us at the North. 
The Emerald humming bird resembles the old female of the 
ruby-throated bird, or scarlet-throat, as we have called it 
from the predominance of that blazing hue in the changing 
splendors of its throat ! The green birds resemble, also, the 
yotmg female of the ruby -throat — and hence the confusion. 
The points of distinction, however, are clear enough, when 
the attention has been once attracted toward noting them. 
The two families of my pets belonged to the two varieties, 
and, therefore, I had ample opportunity of careful compari- 
son. The female of all humming birds is the largest ; — 
well, in the matter of size, I found the difference to be this 
— ^the female of the ruby-throat is of the same size with the 
male of the green — while the female of the green is nearly 
one-third larger. The throat of the male of the green is 
always a pure, clear white, while the plumage of the back 
is a darker and more resplendent green. The throat of the 
ruby, during the first year, is distinctly marked a grayish 
