1 86 Birds Every Child Should Know 
outlet, for she is one of the most expert nest- 
builders in the world. An exquisitely dainty 
little cup of plant down, felted into a compact 
cradle and stuccoed with bits of lichen bound on 
by spider-web, can scarcely be told from a knot 
on the limb to which it is fastened. Two eggs, 
not larger than beans, in time give place to two 
downy hummers about the size of honey-bees. 
Perhaps you have seen pigeons pump food 
down the throats of their squabs ? In this same 
way are baby hummingbirds fed. After about 
three weeks in the nest, the young are ready 
to fly ; but they rest on perches the first month 
of their independence more than at any time 
afterward. No weak-footed relative of the 
swift could live long off the wing. It is good- 
bye to summer when the last hummingbird 
forsakes our frost-nipped, . northern gardens for 
happier hunting grounds far away. 
