The Nome daily nugget., 1934-12-31
Prepared by National Geographic society.
 Washing gton. D. C.-WNU Service.

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 A LTHOUGH members of the l ~ humming bird family are the 4 A tiniest of birds, they belong to a huge family. There are 4SS known species of humming birds and there are 150 or more addition al sub-species or geographic races, making a total of more than 600 recognized kinds.
 They are found only in the New world, where they range from the Strait of Magellan to Canada and Alaska, constituting one of the most brilliantly colored and specialized families of birds found in this vast region.
 The family-is most abundant, as regards species, near the Equator, In the Andean region of South America The Republic of Ecuador has 148 kinds of hummers and Col ombia 105 known forms.
 Tn passing north and south from these centers of maximum abun- dance, species become fewer; so that in North America north of Mex leo (but including Lower Califor- nia) only 16 kinds of humming birds are found regularly, while three others may come casually within these limits.
 In the United States humming birds are found in greatest variety in the Southwest, only one species, the ruby-throat, ranging east of the Mississippi river.
 The mountain meadows of our southwestern states in midsummer, when their rich assortments of flow CTS are in bloom, frequently swarm with humming birds of number of species feeding on the blossoms and pursuing one another pugna- ciously in pure exuberance of life. It is under such circumstances that these sprightly birds appear at their best, and one never tires of watching them.
 Running birds are most abun- dant in regions where there are thickets of other woodland inter- spersed with meadows and openings where the birds may feed and dis port themselves in the sunshine. Some kinds are inhabitants of heavy forests, these being found mainly in tropical regions, where certain species have become adapt ed to life in the dense rain forests.
 Inhabitant of Dense Forests.
 The emerald humming bird of Haiti and the Dominican republic lives in the densest of forest growths, where the vegetation drips constantly with water from the daily rains, and comes only occa- slona1ly into little openings to feed at flowers. Its deep-green cobra ton blends with its forest back ground, so that often the subdued humming of Its wings, as 1t moves among the branches, may be heard for some time before one can dis tinguish the form of the bird in the somber shadows.
 An existence of such a type Is in strong contrast to that of the beau tiful long-tailed Sappho hummer that is found in the Andean foot hills of western Argentina, living in open valleys grown with low creo- sote bush, where the birds are con stantly found in the open.
 The majority of hummers are characterized by glittering refec- tlons from their plumage, and as a general rule the males are more brilliant than the females.
 The hues of the plumage are irl- descent and are caused by the re fraction of light. On close exam ination of the feather of bird, 1t is found to be composed of many fine filaments, which under the microscope are seen to be divided into still finer divisions. In the shining feathers of hummers, there is an abundance of dark pigment in the tiny feather divisions known as barbules. The sheath overlying this pigment is either smooth and highly polished or has many mi- mute lines on or under its surface. This structure causes reflection or a refraction of the light, accord ing to the circumstance, making the brilliant hues found in these birds.
 As for form, the variation among hummers is truly astonishing The smallest bird in the world Is Hele mas humming bird of Cuba. from two and one-fourth to two and one half inches or a trifle more in length, with the wing only one and one-third inches long or less and the bill less than half an inch long.
 This tiny sprite Is sometimes called the fairy hummer. Tn con trast to 1t, there is the giant hum- mer of the central and southern An dean mountains that is about eight and one-half inches in length and has a wing five inches long. This species is as large in body as Q bluebird and Is strong and power ful, resembling a large swift in general appearance.