General Notes, 
Observations on the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. — One 27th of May 
my son discovered a Hummingbird at work upon her nest, and drew for 
me a map of the locality by which I bad no difficulty in finding the spot. 
It was well in the depths of an eighty acre forest. I watched my oppor- 
tunity and while the bird was away for material succeeded in obtaining a 
desirable seat for observation. The saddle was already formed and the 
nest evened up to a platform level with the upper surface of the limb. It 
was placed beyond the middle of a long, slender maple branch about 
fifteen feet above the ground. The bird always followed the same direc- 
tion whenever she went for material. Oftener than otherwise she returned 
laden to her nest in thirty-nine seconds after she left it — now and then 
more; once ninety seconds. I also spent much time there the 28th and 
29th, and find the history of those days very similar to that of the 27th. 
Occasionally she took a vacation for food and rest; but those vacations 
were short. On May 30, at two p. m., the cup was complete and the 
bird was carrying silk and lining it. For this material she would be gone 
about as long again as for that of the outside. The next day, May 31, 
she was sitting. During incubation she sat lightly on her nest a few 
minutes, then off as many, and looked brightly about her while on her 
eggs. 
O11 June 8 I found my bird in trouble: another female Hummingbird 
was trespassing. The aggressor would hover over the nest, swoop back 
and forth above it like a pendulum, alight with a tantalizing gesture on 
a twig close beside it, or, with a squeal, dart under it, and each time she 
came near would get driven away by the sitting bird. Twice I saw her 
rob the nest, once of lichens from the outside and once a good bill-full 
of silk from the lining. The poor mother came back to her eggs as often 
as she was disturbed. After watching the constant conflict for more than 
two hours, I left them still battling. The next day the nest was unoccu- 
pied. During all these thirteen days — I had spent much time in close 
observation — I did not once see a male Hummingbird in the vicinity of 
the nest. It was the female who did all the labor of nest-making and of 
incubation and who, as long as she could, valiantly defended her eggs 
and property. In ray chosen seat I was not more than twenty feet from 
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