Ruby-throated Hummingbird 185 
Monarda or bee-balm, too, hides a sweet sip 
in each of its red tubes for his special benefit. 
So does the coral honeysuckle. There are a 
few other flowers that cater to him, especially, 
by wearing his favotnite colour, by hiding 
nectar so deep that only his long tongue can 
drain it, and by opening in orderly succession 
so that he shall fare well throughout the sum- 
mer, not have a feast one month and a famine 
the next. In addition to these flowers in 
Nature’s garden that minister to his needs, 
many that have been brought from the ends of 
the earth to our garden plots please him no less. 
The canna, nasturtium, phlox, trumpet-flower, 
salvia, and a host of others, delight his eye and 
his palate. Don’t you think it is worth while 
to plant his favourites in yoxxr garden if only 
for the joy of seeing him about? He is wonder- 
fully neighbourly, coming to the flower-beds 
or window-boxes with undaunted familiarity 
in the presence of the family. A hummingbird 
that lived in my garden sipped from a sprig of 
honeysuckle that I held in my hand. But the 
bird is not always so amiable by any means. A 
fierce duellist, he will lunge his rapier-like bill 
at another hummer with deadly thrusts. A 
battle of the midgets in mid-air is a sorry sight. 
You may know a male by the brilliant 
metallic-red feathers on his throat. His mate 
lacks these, but her brilliancy has another 
