215 
Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
Habits of the Rufous-backed Humming-bird (Selasphorus 
rufus).—In the last Part of f The Ank ’ (pp. 76-77), Mr. 
H. W. Henshaw gives the following interesting account of 
this beautiful species, as observed by him in mountains about 
forty miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico :— 
“ The number of representatives of this and the preceding 
species that make their summer homes in these mountains is 
simply beyond calculation. No one whose experience is 
limited to the Eastern United States can form any adequate 
idea of their abundance. They occur from an altitude of 
about 7500 feet far up on the mountain sides, as high up, in 
fact, as suitable flowers afford them the means of subsistence. 
They are most numerous at an altitude of from 8000 to 9000 
feet. During the entire summer they frequent almost ex¬ 
clusively a species of Scrophularia which grows in clumps in 
the sunnier spots of the valleys. From early dawn till dusk 
the Humming-birds throng around these plants intent on 
surfeiting themselves with honey and the minute insects 
that the honey attracts. The scene presented in one of these 
flowering areas is a most attractive one. Males and females 
all flock to the common feeding-ground, and as the Hummers, 
especially the Rufous-backed species, are pugnacious and hot- 
tempered in the extreme, the field becomes a constant battle¬ 
ground whereon favourite flowers and favourite perching- 
grounds are contested for with all the ardour that attaches 
to more important conquests. The fiery red throat of the 
Rufous-backed Hummer is an index of its impetuous, aggres¬ 
sive disposition; and when brought into conflict with the 
other species it invariably asserts its supremacy and drives 
its rival in utter route from the fields. Nor do the males of 
this species confine their warfare to their own sex. Gallantry 
has no place, apparently, in their breasts, and when conquest 
has put them in possession of a perch near a clump of flowers 
they wage war on all fresh comers, females as well as males. 
“ Some idea of thenumber of Humming-birds in this locality 
—and in this respect this whole mountain area is alike—may 
be gained from the statement that in a single clump of the 
Scrophularia I have counted eighteen Hummers, all within 
