THE FOOD OF HUMMINGBIRDS. 
BY FREDERIC A. LUCAS. 
In ‘Science’ for October 28, 1892, was an article by Dr. Morris 
Gibbs of Kalamazoo, Mich., entitled ‘The Hummingbird’s Food,’ 
in which the author stated as the result of his observations, and 
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fornia Anna’s Hummingbird fed on the sap of the willow ( Salix 
lariolepis) , drinking at holes made by Sphyrapicus ruber , and 
from wounds made by the grub of a large borer. I have also been 
told that the Rubythroat has been seen in fall hovering about 
fallen pears from which the juice had exuded sufficiently to attract 
numerous ‘yellow-jackets.’ 
In view of the published accounts of Gould, Gosse and others, 
substantiated by incidental observations of my own, this amount of 
testimony to the vegetable nature of the Hummingbird s food was 
a little surprising, and, in the hope of throwing a little light on the 
subject, the birds themselves were appealed to and the stomach 
contents of a number examined. 
Altogether twenty-nine specimens, representing thirteen 
species, from sixteen widely separated localities, were examined, 
and all of these, save four which were quite empty, contained 
insect remains, usually in large quantities. Young Humming- 
birds examined by Dr. Shufeldt and myself contained flies, 
spiders, and beetles, and any one who examines a nestling will 
notice that the skin of the neck is distended by the expansion of 
the oesophagus where this is, or has been, packed with food, so 
it is pretty safe to say that it is more than doubtful that honey 
enters into the little ones’ bill of fare. 
