HUMMING-BIRDS. 
" Minutest of the feathered kind, 
Possessing every charm combined, 
Nature, in forming- thee, designed 
That thou shouldst be 
" A proof within how little space 
She can comprise such perfect grace, 
Rendering thy lovely fairy race 
Beauty's epitome." 
IT has been said that what a beautiful 
sonnet is to the mind, one of these 
fairy-like creations is to the eyes. 
This is true even in the case of 
mounted specimens, which must neces- 
sarily have lost some of their irides- 
cence. Few can hope to see many of 
them alive. The gorgeous little birds 
are largely tropical, the northern limit 
of their abundance as species being the 
Tropic of Cancer. They are partial to 
mountainous regions, where there is 
diversity of surface and soil sufficient 
to meet their needs within a small 
area. The highlands of the Andes in 
South America are the regions most 
favored by a large number of species. 
They are most abundant in Ecuador, 
the mountain heights affording a home 
for more than one hundred species. 
Columbia has about one hundred spe- 
cies; Bolivia and Peru claim about 
ninety-six; then follow, in consecutive 
order, Central America, Brazil, Vene- 
zuela, Mexico, Guiana, the West Indies, 
and the United States. 
The eastern part of the United States 
has but one representative of the Hum- 
ming-bird family, and only seventeen 
species have been found within the 
limits of the country. As ten of these 
really belong to the Mexican group, 
we can claim ownership of only seven, 
most of which, however, migrate far 
south in winter. Only one of these, 
the Anna, spends the winter in the 
warm valleys of California. 
Most of the Hummers are honey- 
lovers, and they extract the sweetest 
juices of the flowers. 
The " soft susurrations " of their 
wings, as they poise above the flowers, 
inserting their long beaks into tubes of 
nectar, announce their presence. Some 
of the Warblers and Kinglets will 
sometimes poise in this way before a 
leaf and peck an insect from its sur- 
face, but it is not a regular habit with 
them. The Hummer's ability to move 
backwards while on the wing is one of 
the most wonderful features of its 
flight, and this movement, Mr. Ridgway 
says, is greatly assisted by a forward 
flirt of the bird's expanded tail. 
The nests of the Humming-birds are 
of cup-shape and turban-shape, . are 
composed chiefly of plant-down, inter- 
woven and bound together with Spider 
webs, and decorated with lichens and 
mosses. Usually the nest is saddled 
upon a horizontal or slanting branch or 
twig, but that of the Hermit Hummer 
is fastened to the sides of long, pointed 
leaves, where they are safe from Mon- 
keys and other predaceous animals. 
"Dwelling in the snowy regions of 
the Andes are the little gems called 
Hill-stars," says Leander S. Keyser, 
"which build a structure as large as a 
man's head, at the top of which there 
is a* small, cup-shaped depression. In 
these dainty structures the eggs are 
laid, lying like gems in the bottom of 
the cups, and here the little ones are 
hatched. Some of them look more 
like bugs than birds when they first 
come from the shell. The method of 
feeding the young is mostly by regur- 
gitation; at least such is the habit 
of the Ruby-throat, and no doubt 
many others of the family follow the 
fashions of the Humming-bird land. 
The process is as follows: The parent 
bird thrusts her long bill far down into 
the throat of her bantling, and then, by 
a series of forward plunges that are 
really terrible to witness, the honey food 
is pumped from the old bird's craw 
into that of the youngster. So far as 
is known the babies enjoy this vigorous 
exercise and suffer no serious conse- 
quences from it." 
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