. Everyday birds; elementary studies . so very small, however,that they are easily overlooked on a branch of atree, and the average person never notices themexcept when the hum of their wings attracts hisattention. One of the prettiest sights in the world is ahummingbird hovering before a blossom, hiswings vibrating so fast as to make a mist abouthim, and his long needle of a bill probing theflower with quick, eager thrusts. All his move-ments are of lightning-like rapidity, and evenwhile your eyes are on him he is gone like aflash, you cannot say whither. The hummingbirds nest is built on a b
. Everyday birds; elementary studies . so very small, however,that they are easily overlooked on a branch of atree, and the average person never notices themexcept when the hum of their wings attracts hisattention. One of the prettiest sights in the world is ahummingbird hovering before a blossom, hiswings vibrating so fast as to make a mist abouthim, and his long needle of a bill probing theflower with quick, eager thrusts. All his move-ments are of lightning-like rapidity, and evenwhile your eyes are on him he is gone like aflash, you cannot say whither. The hummingbirds nest is built on a branchof a tree, — saddled on it, — and is not veryhard to find after you have once seen one, andso have learned precisely what to look it is placed well out toward the end ofthe limb. I have found it on pitch-pines in thewoods, on roadside maples, — shade trees, — andespecially in apple and pear orchards. The mo-ther bird is very apt to betray its whereaboutsby buzzing about the head of any one whocomes near RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD /, 2. Males. J. Female. 4. Yoioig THE HUMMINGBIRD 63 Last May, for example, I stopped in the mid-dle of the road to listen for the voice of a housewren, when I caught instead the buzz and squeakof a hummer. Turning my gaze upward, I sawher fly to a haK-built nest on a maple branchdirectly over my head. The nest is a tiny thing, looking for size andshape like a cup out of a childs toy tea-set. Itswalls are thick, and on the outside are covered— shingled, we may say — with bits of graylichen, which help to make the nest look likenothing more than a knot. Whether they areput on for that purpose, or by way of ornament,is more than I can tell. The bird always lays two white eggs, aboutas large as peas. The young ones stay in thenest for three weeks, more or less, till they arefully grown and fledged, and perfectly well ableto fly. I once saw one take his first flight, anda great venture it seemed. All these threeweeks, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1901
