Evening star., 1948-01-19
This and That
By Charles E. Trace,Dell


Hummingbirds at wedding
Well. that Is something new especially when
they dip into the brides corsage
That is the picture set forth in the following
communication from f. and M H. of Ellicott
street:
my sister and received Christmas letter
from a friend in Mississippi who told Of an
unusual incident at the wedding reception of a
niece which surely added to the happy memories
of the day for both bride and bridegroom. We
wondered If you might think it would interest
other bird lovers who daily read This and That
in The Evening Star.
"It was lovely wedding.
1.-THE reception in their garden, half city
block or more In size, with very large sunken
until twilight fell, followed by such brilliant
moonlight that we were hardly conscious of the
change.
THE brides bouquet was all orchids.
"She wore two Of these as corsage on her
travelling suit and as she went into the garden
to tell her mother good-by, while several of us
were standing nearby, an iridescent throated
hummingbird flew to her corsage and took
nectar from both orchids, then few to her
mothers orchids.
The bird then hew away, and, in a. very few
seconds, 1t seemed, returned, flying first to the
brides corsage, then to her mothers, for more
nectar from the lovely flowers.
II had never seen hummingbird so familiar
before"
Surely the ruby -throated hummingbird is one
OF the best of the birds we have in and around
Washington.
Perhaps 1t is not too early to be thinking
about it, since it visits us again almost as soon
as any other species.
The ruby throat is the only hummer we have
here but in the Southwest, and especially in
California, they have many others.
But If we have but one, 1t is a very good
one, and perfect for the average home garden
Just about the smallest of our birds, the ruby
throated species Is at home wherever there are
bell-throated flowers
These will include the blossoms of the
trumpet vine. those of the lowly petunia and
the flowers OF the lordly gladiolus.
It is difficult to tell which of these the little
birds prefer, for it is not just nectar that
they like.
Some persons are surprised to learn that the
jewels of the air, as they have been called, are
really after minute insects, which, in turn, had
been after the sweet nectar of the flowers
Hummingbirds. despite their delicacy, are real
BIRDS In every respect. They have the same
tasks, especially in rearing their babies, and all
baby birds must be fed~on high protein foods.
such as insects.
It may be realized that the insects these birds
can catch are very small. 1t is helpful to them,
even If the insects are enmeshed in sticky liquid
at the time.
The nummingbird nest is about the size of an
English walnut, or even slightly smaller
1t may be placed in tree, but has been put
even next to light bulb on a busy American
street.
When the nest is in tree, it is colored
exactly to match the bark, and is so small, and
looks SO much like q knot on the tree, that only
the most searching eye can find it. Perhaps
fewer hummingbird babies are taken by
marauders than those of any other bird parents:
Usually two eggs are laid. Each baby bird is
about the size of the end of the little finger.
Hummingbirds that stay with us all spring
and summer fly South in the fall, many of
them to cross the Gulf of Mexico, a journey of
500 miles, without stop for rest or food.
When one stops to think that this fairy bird
is only slightly more than inches long, and
weighs perhaps scarcely half an ounce, one may
realize that such trip belongs among the
miracles