232



Correspondence



Chart of minimum night temperatures stood without apparent iil-effects in

an all-open outdoor aviary by the Humming Bird, Chrysolampis moschitus

[elatus]



Date



Temp. F.



Remarks



June 23-24



49





Damp.



„ 24-25



51





^ Damp.



„ 25-26



50





>r & Very damp.



„ 26-27



49





Thundery.



„ 27-28



50





o Dry-



„ 28-29



44



•



Dry.



„ 29-30



52





Dry.



June 30-July 1



47





Dry.



July 1-2



58





Very dry.



„ 2-3



52





^ Very dry.



„ 3-4



57





\ cs Very dry.



„ 4-5



52





^ Very dry.



„ 5-6



56





3 Cloudy.



„ 6-7



53





Cloudy.



„ 7-8



55





Cloudy and strong wind.



„ 8-9



57



j



Very wet and stormy.



„ 9-10



55



\ ^ \ Very wet and stormy.



„ 10-11



53



j, c Very wet and stormy.



„ 11-12



51



j



1 Very wet and stormy.



The bird has become torpid on several occasions with the thermometer

at 63° F. ; yet it is often active at 56° F. It has been torpid successively for

17, 15, and 20 hours within four days. I am inclined to attribute this state

more to windy weather than to cold. When we consider that in a wild state

these small birds would have great difficulty in procuring food either from

flowers or in the air during stormy weather, it does not seem very strange that

Nature should have devised a plan for preventing them from starving. It

remains to be discovered for how long at a stretch they are able to remain

in this state of what must be termed “ partial hibernation


I think, moreover, it will one day be proved that the near allies of the

Trochilidse (Swifts, Nightjars, and even Colies) have the same power of

remaining unconscious for a longer or shorter period.


Anthony Chaplin.



A HUMMING BIRD’S OUTING


Yesterday (18th July) I was rung up by a gentleman in Cuckfield, about

4 miles away, to say that he had got a Humming Bird which had been

about for a day or two, and asking if it was mine and what to feed it on.

I went over to see it and found that it was a Humming Bird and that it was

greedily sucking up Nestle’s milk from blossoms stuck into the wires of

a canary-cage in which it had been put. I, of course, was able to tell the



