16 TH E.-A UU, DoW BtO Ne Be tei ae 
knew. When smoke from our fire drifted over, she spread her wing's above 
the nest to protect the young ones. She fussed over the nestlings, preened 
their wings, and cleaned the nest, throwing the refuse over the side. She 
drove off all intruders, even a Hairy Woodpecker. Later a Blue Jay came 
too close and she was after him at once. He alighted on the ground, but the 
female gave him a jab like lightning, and he was gone. She turned and 
poised in the air, then dashed to the nest to see that her young were safe. 
August 17: Now, eight days after we first saw the young, one little bird 
stretched up and exercised one wing. The next day he exercised the other. 
The day after, whirr went both wings. I was afraid that ‘“‘The Boy,” as we 
called him, would take off without an escort. Soon the mother arrived and 
began feeding her young. After feeding, they would be still for about ten 
minutes, and then the Boy would try his wings again. 
August 20: About 7:00 a.m., for the first time, the male hummingbird ap- 
peared. While he was on the telephone wire about 15 feet away, and while 
the mother hovered nearby, the Boy got to the east side of the nest and 
out on the limb. Then he tried to fly back but misjudged his distance, jump- 
ing over the nest and landing a foot away. After a moment he took off for 
the big maple in the flower garden across the road, chaperoned by his 
parents. We never saw him again. 
August 21: Little Sister was restless and often exercised her wings. The 
female came back to feed and encourage the Girl. She flopped out on the 
limb, sat there about a minute, then flopped back. The mother left. The 
next day she came back with food and broke down the side of the nest 
with her bill. The Girl tried both wings, but made no effort to leave. The 
mother flew to the nest and tried to push the Girl out with her breast. The 
young one resisted, and the mother left again. 
August 23: The Girl exercised her wings for an hour and a half. Suddenly 
out she flew, with both mother and father escorting her into the big maple 
across the road. We had glimpses of the family after they left the maple, 
but could not follow them. 
Months later a Jay pecked at the nest and knocked it into the snow. It 
was about one and one-half inches in diameter at the top and about one 
inch deep. The bottom was shaped to the little limb. The materials seemed 
to be mosses, fine ferns, lichens, and spider webs, tightly woven together. 
Many interesting details and questions remain in our minds. It appeared 
that the mother fed the young through a sort of tube-tongue placed in their 
throats, though at times we could see motions of her bill. We know that she 
was shaping the nest for the longest time, probably even after the eggs 
were laid. How did she hatch the eggs with these long absences? Some- 
times she was gone for days at a time. 
The next year one bird reappeared and began a nest near the former 
site. But when the structure was half an inch high it was abandoned. This 
bird also buzzed our windows, and once my husband followed her flight 
and discovered her new nest fifty feet to the west in a much higher tree. 
Because of the distance and height of the nest, it was not possible to add 
much to our earlier findings. 
Harbor Springs, Michigan 
ft Ft ae 
