46 o 
HUMMING BIRDS. 
mere amusement, pursue larger birds, such as the Yellow Bird 
and Sparrows. To man they show but little either of fear or 
aversion, often quietly feeding on their favorite flowers when 
so nearly approached as to be caught. They likewise fre- 
quently enter the green houses and windows of dwellings 
where flowers are kept in sight. After feeding for a time, the 
individual settles on some small and often naked bough or 
slender twig, and dresses its feathers with great composure, 
particularly preening and clearing the plumes of the wing. 
The old and young are soon reconciled to confinement. In 
an hour after the loss of liberty the cheerful little captive will 
often come and suck diluted honey, or sugar and water, from 
the flowers held out to it ; and in a few hours more it becomes 
tame enough to sip its favorite beverage from a saucer, in the 
interval flying backwards and forwards in the room for mere 
exercise, and then resting on some neighboring elevated object. 
In dark or rainy weather it seems to pass the time chiefly 
dozing on the perch. It is also soon so familiar as to come to 
the hand that feeds it. In cold nights, or at the approach of 
frost, the pulsation of this little dweller in the sunbeam be- 
comes nearly as low as in the torpid state of the dormouse ; 
but on applying warmth, the almost stagnant circulation 
revives, and slowly increases to the usual state. 
Near the Atlantic this frail creature nests regularly as far north 
as the Laurentian hills of Quebec. It is an abundant summer res- 
ident of the Maritime Provinces, but occurs in southern Ontario 
as a migrant only. 
The fact that insects form a staple diet of these diminutive birds 
has been satisfactorily proved, though formerly they were sup- 
posed to feed entirely on honey. Honey doubtless forms a part 
of their food, and they also drink freely of the sweet sap which the 
Woodpeckers draw from the maple and birch. 
Another mistake regarding the Humming Birds, — that they 
never alight while feeding, — has been rectified by several trust- 
worthy observers. The birds have been seen to alight on the 
leaves of the trumpet-flower while gathering honey, and also to 
rest on the tapped trees while they leisurely drank of the flowing 
sap. ® 
The young birds are fed by regurgitation. 
