. . ed with lichens, whichare securely bound on by a network of the finest silk fromspiders webs. It was saddled on the horizontal limb of analder, about twenty feet above the bed of a running moun-tain stream, in a glen which was overarched and shadowedby several huge spruces. The note of this bird gem of the pine-clad mountains isa twittering sound, louder, not so shrill, and uttered moreclosely than those of the small hummers. As the Rivoli hovers over the mescal and gathers from itsflowers the numerous insects that infest them, o
. . ed with lichens, whichare securely bound on by a network of the finest silk fromspiders webs. It was saddled on the horizontal limb of analder, about twenty feet above the bed of a running moun-tain stream, in a glen which was overarched and shadowedby several huge spruces. The note of this bird gem of the pine-clad mountains isa twittering sound, louder, not so shrill, and uttered moreclosely than those of the small hummers. As the Rivoli hovers over the mescal and gathers from itsflowers the numerous insects that infest them, or as it takesthe sweets from the flowers of the boreal honeysuckle, one isreminded of the words of the poet: Art thou a bird, a bee, or butterfly?Each and all three — a bird in shape am I, A bee, collecting sweets from bloom to bloom, A butterfly in brilliancy of plume. RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD The Ruby-throated Humming-bird is decidedly thesmallest feathered creature inhabiting North America atlarge east of the great plains; it winters in southern Florida. RUBV-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDAbout Life-size. GOATSUCKERS, HUMMING-BIRDS, ETC. 245 and Central America. Many of us look upon the humming-bird as a migrant of the flower bed and gardens, where theymay be seen poised in air, moving their tiny wings so rapidlyas to show only a blurred outline. The musical hum of thevibrating wings gives rise to the name. \Vhile thus poisedit inserts the slender, tube-like bill into the long blossoms ofthe trumpet-creeper and other flowers for the nectar. Theirfondness for the honey often tempts the little bird to nest inshade trees or saplings in close proximity to gardens, thoughwe are apt to encounter these birds in our timbered areas farfrom the habitation of man, where they are earning theirlivelihood, as all hummers originally did, by capturingminute insects. Their note is a kind of squeak, or chatter, less musicalthan the hum of its wings. The Rocky and Sierra Nevadamountains of North Ame
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booki, booksubjectnaturalhistory
