The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird 
223 
Sir Ruby’s 
Adventure 
perate thrust, when flying too low, the bird was caught by the beak in the 
firm meshes of the wire screen, where, after a single effort, he hung quite 
stunned by the shock. 
Going outside, after hesitating a moment, — so frail and intangible a 
I thing it seemed to touch, I gently released the bill and laid the little body, 
! now inert, with limp neck, in my palm. The tiny claws were closed like 
I clenched fists ; had its neck been broken, was it dead ? 
I No, for the eyes were open bright, though they did not 
I see, and one of the things that I learned years ago 
i from that unfailing observer. Dr. Elliott Coues, was that, contrary to 
! other forms of animal life, the eyes of a bird always shut in death. 
; As I closed my hand a little, with the natural instinct to brood and 
! comfort the one hurt, I suddenly felt the thump of that mite of a heart, 
I and the head raised a bit and then fell back again, beak parted. Water 
I and a grass-blade to carry the water to the beak, drop by drop, was the 
[ next step. The bill closed and the water was swallowed until five drops 
I were consumed, — quite a draught, all things considered. Another minute 
I and the head was raised. I tried to make a perch of my finger, but it was 
I too large by far. Securing a dry twig from the honeysuckle, I wedged it 
* as well as I could with one hand across a berry basket that was on the 
j porch table, and placed Sir Ruby upon it, setting the basket well into the 
i shade of the vine. 
I The claws held firmly to the twig, and the bird settled down sleepily, 
his only motion being to rub his head (eyes now closed) under one half- 
raised wing. Then I moved back a few feet and waited. Perhaps two 
! minutes passed when, without warning. Sir Ruby, with a single motion, 
I darted from the vine without even touching the basket’s edge, and on 
I across the garden, as good as new. What he thought I cannot know, 
; but I shall never forget the wonderful revelation of the bird world, and 
i reverence for the creative plan complete in so small a frame, that thrilled 
! through me at the beating of that little heart against my palm. 
I As housebuilders these Hummingbirds are as unique as in their ap- 
' pearance. Whether the site chosen for a nest be high up almost out 
I of sight, or on a slanting branch close at hand, the nest is usually set 
; astride the limb like a saddle on a horse, instead of being supported by a 
I hand-like series of crotches. An unused nest that I have now before 
I me shows very perfectly the materials from which it 
was made. Next to the maple branch, less than half 
an inch thick, is a layer of the soft scales that fall on 
the opening of spruce-buds ; the body of the nest is of fern-wool, mixed 
with the down of some composite smaller than the ordinary dandelion. 
The outside is shingled with cedar-tree moss, as well as a few of the dark 
i scales of spruce-bark. 
In this nest, the edge is quite loose and fluffy, and the structure itself 
: is rather small, being not over an inch above its foundation. In this case, 
the home was, for some unknown reason, abandoned immediately after 
Beauty of 
the Nest 
