The National tribune., 1902-04-10
The Housekeeping Of the Humming Bird.
Country Life in America.)

The nests of many kinds of birds are
close at hand, or easy to lind if you only
know where to look. For a quaifs nest
you may look on the ground in the edge
of the woods or in some weedy field; the
oriole always hangs her home over
dusty road in the top of some swaying elm
limb; the great crested fycatcher carries
his snake skins or fish scales to wood
pecker's hole in an old apple tree, disput-
ing with the blue bird for its possession;
phebe calls from under your caves, and
the kingbird rules the top of your pear
tree-but to find humming-bird's nest
you must search far and wide. The hum
ming bird lets time and chance determine
her nesting site, and you must trust to
Last summer mother humming- bird
came and built in an apple tree by our
door.
The old bird was very busy and preoc
cupied. Her whole manner would put to
shame anyone who might ask himself
whether life were worth while. First, we
saw her gathering lichens from a summer
house roof; next We found, by watching
her, the half-fnished nest in the little fork
OF the apple limb, only waist high from the
ground. Ii was one of the prettiest things
| have ever seen. The nest was a little
larger than half an egg shell, and SO care
fully covered with moss and lichens that
the whole thing looked exactly like a knot
on a moss grown limb. 1t was lined in
side with dandelion down until it was like
silk. You simply gazed at it in delight,
wondering how one slender bill could ere
ate such art.
The two pearly white eggs, scarcely
larger than peas, appeared before the nest
was quite complete. In two weeks one
Of them disappeared, and in its place,
down in the bottom of the nest, was a
young humming-bird. The next day the
other little one was hatched. The two
birds were odd samples of bird life. They
looked for all the world exactly like half
drowned honey-bees. From the day they
were hatched the old bird was a busy pa
rent. Often she would be gone for an
hour among the flowers, though generally
but half an hour or 20 minutes. On re-
turning she would perch for moment on
4 dead apple tree limb, then fly to her
nest and gently wake her young by prod
ding them with her bill. She fed them
by Ghrusting her bill into their upturned
throats so far and so vigorously that you
felt sure they would be killed. As the
young grew, they would hold up their
heads without being first awakened, and
when she came near they made Il low hum
ming sound, like that of very highly
pitched tuning fork. Whether this was
in supplication for food or in alarm we
could not determine.
1t was four weeks before the young
hummng birds could fly. 1t takes a robin
but two. As they grew their breasts
crowded out the top of the nest until it al
most broke. The last week in the nest
feathers came out rapidly on the birds and
their bills which had hitherto been very
short. grew with surprising speed. The
nest had been so cleverly placed that,
though it was on the south side of the
tree the sun could never shine into it.
When we pulled back the leaves in taking
pictures, the mother came and sheltered
her young from the hot rays. During a
sharp thunder storm. however, she did
not come near the nest.
One day the larger of the two birds
jumped out. and instead Of sprawling
around screaming for every cat within a
mile TO hear, as a young robin would have
done. he sailed easily and silently into the
top of tree aud from his perch quietly
surveyed the world that had so suddenly
become his. The next day the other bird
did the same. They did not call or heSi-
tate or first flap their wings or crawl tim
idly out on u branch. There was no air Of
experiment. They had the mien Of vcter-
ans from the start.