Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-07-23
NO. l72.
Misefllanfous.
HuMMING BIRDS.

What, then, shall be said of the hum
ming bird, that tiny dweller in lovely
tropical forests, futtering and darting
among wildernesses of orchids. creepers,
and air-plants, az gorgeous and fairv-like
as the great blue Brazilian butterfly, its
playfellow in 'those Amazonian plains,
one-lying as enchanted ?" Professor Or
ton. writing of the South American wilds.
says: 1.-the lianas, starred with flowers,
coil up the stately trees, and then hang
down like strung jewels; they can be
counted only by myriads. yet they are
mere superhuites. The dense dome of
green over head is supported by crowded
columns, often branchless for eighty feet.
The reckless competition among both
small and great adds to the solemnity
and gloom of a tropical forest" la these
untrodden bowers the humming bird
makes its home. 1t Is peculiar to Ameri-
ca and the adjacent islands, and although
bearing some relation to the sun bird of
Asia and Africa. il is never found across
the water in all its tiny beauty. A few
varieties live in the Northern United
States, and are often seen sporting over
beds of flowers in the summer sunshine.
Their motion isiapid and graceful. Now
close at hand. plunging into deep flow
er cup, in an instant 1t is off like ray OF
light. and disappears no one knows
whittier. Never appearing to alight,
they hover on delicate wing, true crea-
lures of the air and sunshine.
Bright humming bird of gem-hke pumeletsge.
BY Western Indians Living Sunbeam named"
There are many species of this little
creature, which is found in the greatest
abundance in the West Indies and all
through South America. Its colOring Is
marvel of beauty. Now like ruby,
now a topaz, or emerald, or shimmeriDg
gold, it seems a futtering rainbow, the
most lovely and dainty of all the great
bird family. Like the bird of paradise,
the humming bird is never seen on the
ground. It's tiny nest, often no longer
than a walnut she'll, is fastened in the fork
o a brarc ch, or suspended by fine spider
webs to Leaf or the stalk of a creeper.
Some varieties weave nest as firm and
durable as leather; others-those that
build on a branch--cover it with dainty
lichens. so that it appears AS portion of
the original twig, being completely con-
cealed There are nests hard on the in
side, others soft and downy as the finest
silk lining. the fibre of certain plants, can
make them. The female, which, like all
other bird species. is dull and plain when
compared to her gorgeous consort, depos-
its one or, al the most, two tiny white
eggs. In ten days they are hatched, and
in week after birth the young are able
to leave the nest. although some months
must elapse before the male acquires the
full beauty of his plumage. Much has
been written about the food of these tiny
creatures. the early naturalists believing
that they subsisted solely upon nectar Of
flowers. But it has now been proved that
they can not long endure diet of sweets
alone. Minute flies, spiders. and almost
invisible bugs are eagerly sought for by
the humming bird, and it has been seen to
make Il fine breakfast on gossamer spider.
which it neatly abstracts from the center
of its silvery web.-HELEN S. CoNANT, in
Harper's Maqazine for Augnst