There is no topic in natural history so interesting as the architecture of birds; in the building of their nests they are exceedingly ingenious. We may well learn a lesson from the patience, diligence and perseverance which they display. Just as men are skilled in different mechanical employments, so we find in the bird tribe miners, masons, carpenters, weavers, basket-makers and tailors.
HUMMING BIRD’S NEST.
The humming bird constructs its nest of the finest silky down, and of cotton, or if these are not available, some other similar material. The inside is lined in the most delicate manner with soft substances; the outside is covered with moss, usually the color of the bough or twig to which the nest is attached, thus giving it the appearance of an excrescence. The delicacy and ingenuity of workmanship and skill could hardly be excelled by human art.
The humming bird is the “fairy of the feathered race”—the smallest and most beautiful—and they are found almost all over this continent. Most of them, however, dwell in the far South, where flowers are ever in bloom, and summer reigns all the year round. One species alone visits our chill Northern States—the humming bird with the ruby throat. It comes to us in July and is very shy; its stay is very short, for toward the first of September it departs to a warmer climate.
WOODPECKER DRILLING A HOLE FOR A NEST.
It is only in tropical countries that the several species of humming bird are seen in their abundance and variety. The islands between Florida and the main land of South America literally swarm with them. In the wild and uncultivated parts they inhabit the magnificent forests overhung with rare plants, whose blossoms vie in beauty with the jewel-like brilliancy of these animate gems of the air. In the cultivated portions of the country they abound in the gardens and seem to delight in society.
Lovely and full of nervous energy, these winged gems are constantly in the air, darting from one object to another, and displaying their gorgeous colors in the sunlight. When on a long journey, as during migration, they pass through the air in long undulations, raising themselves to a considerable height and then falling so as to form a curve. When feeding on a flower they keep themselves poised in one position as steadily as if suspended on a bough—making a humming sound with the rapid motion of their wings.
In disposition these little creatures are bold and pugnacious. In defending their nests they will attack birds five times their size and drive them off. When angry, their motions are very violent and their flight as swift as an arrow. Often the eye is incapable of following them, and their shrill, piercing note alone announces their presence.