53 
The Male Ruby-Throat. 
1891.] 
if nest there was, must he elsewhere, 
I believed. But where? And what 
was the object of the male’s watch? 
My curiosity was fully roused. I 
had never seen or heard of such con¬ 
duct on the part of any bird, and the 
next forenoon I spent another hour and 
a half in the clearing. The hummer 
was at his post, as he always was. We 
had never to wait for him. Soon after 
my arrival he flew to the apple-tree, 
the action seeming to have no connec¬ 
tion with my presence. Presently he 
went back to the ash, and drove out 
of it two intruding birds. A moment 
later two humming-birds were there, 
and in another moment they flew away 
in a direction opposite to the apple- 
tree. Here, then, was a real clue. 
The birds were probably our sentinel 
and his mate. I made after them with 
all speed, pausing under such scattered 
trees as had been left standing in that 
quarter. Nothing was to be found, 
and on my return there sat the male, 
provokingly, at the top of the apple- 
tree, whence he soon returned to the 
ash. A warbler entered the tree, and 
after a while ventured upon the branch 
where the hummer was sitting. In¬ 
stead of driving her away he took wing 
himself, and paid another visit to the 
apple-tree, — a visit of perhaps five 
minutes, — at the end of which he went 
back to the ash. Then two kingbirds 
happened to alight in the apple-tree. 
At once the hummer came dashing over 
and ordered them off, and in his ex¬ 
citement dropped for a moment into 
the leafy top of a birch sapling,—- 
a most unnatural proceeding, — after 
which he resumed his station in the 
ash. What could I make of all this? 
Apparently lie claimed the ownership 
of both trees, and yet his nest was in 
neither! He sat motionless for five 
minutes at a time upon certain dead 
twigs of the ash, precisely as our fe¬ 
male was accustomed to sit in her ap¬ 
ple-tree. For at least seven days he 
had been thus occupied. Where was 
his mate ? On the edge of the wood, 
perhaps. But, if so, why aid I hear 
nothing from her, as I passed up and 
down ? Again my hour and a half had 
been spent to no purpose. 
Not yet discouraged, I returned the 
next morning. For the three quarters 
of an hour that I remained, the hum¬ 
mer was not once out of the ash-tree 
for five minutes. I am not sure that 
he left it for five minutes altogether. 
As usual, he perched almost without 
exception on one or other of two dead 
limbs, while a similar branch, on the 
opposite side of the trunk, he was 
never seen to touch. A Maryland 
yellow-throat alighted on one of his 
two branches and began to sing, but 
had repeated his strain only three or 
four times before the hummer, who 
had been absent for the moment, dart¬ 
ed upon him and put him to flight. 
A little afterward, a red-eyed vireo 
alighted on his other favorite perch, 
and he showed no resentment. As I 
have said, a warbler had sat on the 
same branch which the yellow-throat 
now invaded, and the hummer not 
only did not offer to molest him, but 
flew away himself. These inconsisten¬ 
cies made it hard to draw any infer¬ 
ence from his behavior. During my 
whole stay he did not once go to the 
apple-tree, although, for want of any¬ 
thing better to do, I again scrutinized 
its branches. This time I was dis¬ 
couraged, and gave over the search. 
His secret, whatever it might be, was 
“too dear for my possessing.” But 
my fellow-observer kept up his visits, 
as I have said, and the hummer re¬ 
mained faithful to his task as late as 
July 15, at least. 
Some reader may be prompted to 
ask, as one of my correspondents asked 
at the time, whether the mysterious 
sentry may not have been the mate of 
our home bird. I see no ground for 
such a suspicion. The two places were 
at least a mile apart, as I have already 
mentioned, and woods and hills, to say 
