Page:The Anna Hummingbird.djvu/2

126 danger. Finally, having examined him from all sides and becoming fully satisfied that he was quite dead, she whirled up into the air and dasht away in search of new worlds to conquer.

The food supply, as is of course the case with all hummers, consists for the most part of tiny insects secured from the flowers. Anna, however, delights to rob the webs of the larger spiders of their prey, and has also developt the art of fly-catching in mid-air to an extent that I have seen in no others of the family. Often, while percht on a telegraph wire or the top of a small tree, she will dart up into the air and capture some minute wayfarer, returning to her perch and gulping it down with the greatest apparent satisfaction.

Soft insects are the rule in hummingbird diet, but this species appears to be fond of a tiny metallic-green beetle of decidedly hard-shelled characteristics. The well known hummingbird manner of buzzing up to a flower and dipping in the beak while on the wing is a fixt rule with all the adults; but when first learning to secure food for themselves the young birds find this rather too much for them. They will buzz in front of a flower for a few seconds, but their strength soon gives out and they are obliged to settle in, or on, the flower and pick out their food in a most ludicrous and unhummingbird-like manner.

In its habits this species has one characteristic in which it is very nearly unique among the wild birds of the United States. This is in the truly remarkable length of the nesting season; for it seems extremely probable that nests may be found in almost every month of the year. The earliest, or possibly it should be called the latest, evidence of nesting that I have personally noted was on January 3 of the present year, when I saw a well-grown young bird percht in a cypress tree and garded by its mother. A few yards away in the same tree was the empty nest; the egg from which this young one was hatcht could not possibly have been laid more recently than the third week in November.

I was unable to get into the field until December, but in the first week of that month several male hummers were most assiduously courting their mates, which has been an every day occurrence up to the middle of June when this article is being written. The manner of their courtship is thoroly in keeping with the vigorous nature of the birds. The female usually sits in the midst of some low bush or tree, motionless, with beak pointing downward, apparently paying not the smallest attention to the frantic efforts of the gorgeous male to attract her. With his flashing gorget and crown-plate extended to its greatest compass he mounts into the air some fifty or sixty feet above her and, diving headlong downward, passes in a great arc a few inches under her and ascends to his former altitude. This he repeats as fast as possible, one that I saw making twenty-two consecutive dives.

At each dip he gives his love song which consists of a rather harsh "chû-chû-chû", which is repeated rather slowly and is surprizingly loud for so small a bird. The patience of the same male above-mentioned seemed to suddenly give out, for he paused at last beneath his unresponsive ladylove, then glided slowly up to her and catching her beak with his own pulled her headlong from her perch. The lady did not appear to resent this in the least, for the two birds at once flew away together, the male taking the lead.

My first occupied nest was found on December 29, my attention being attracted by the female flying to it with a small feather in her bill. This nest was situated twelve feet up in a cypress tree upon two cones that were attacht to a dead twig. During the next two days there was an almost continual downpour of rain so that the nest became thoroly soakt thru; nevertheless the bird was at work again on the first of the year, as soon as the sun put in its appearance. The first egg was laid