Voyager on golden air,
Type of all that’s fleet and fair,
Incarnate gem,
Live diadem
Bird-beam of the summer day,—
Whither on your sunny way?
Loveliest of all lovely things,
Roses open to your wings;
Each gentle breast
Would give you rest;
Stay, forget lost Paradise,
Star-bird fallen from happy skies.
Vanished! Earth is not his home;
Onward, onward must he roam
Swift passion-thought,
In rapture wrought,
Issue of the soul’s desire,
Plumed with beauty and with fire.
—John Vance Cheney.
THE ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD.
(_Calypte anna._)
Buffon, writing of the Hummingbird, and his words do not refer to any
single species, but to them as a group, says that “the emerald, the ruby
and the topaz glitter in its garb, which is never soiled with the dust
of earth, for, leading an aerial life, it rarely touches the turf, even
for an instant. Always in the air, flying from flower to flower, it
shares their freshness and their splendor, lives on their nectar, and
only inhabits those climates in which they are unceasingly renewed.”
Of all the birds that might receive the appellation, “The Bird of
America,” to none could it be applied more truthfully than to the
Hummingbird. For of all the families of birds that are distinctively
peculiar to the Americas the Trochilidæ, or the Hummingbird family,
contains the larger number of species. There are over five hundred
species inhabiting North and South America and the adjacent islands,
from Patagonia on the South to Alaska on the North. The species is more
numerous in the tropics and but seventeen are known to frequent the
United States. Of these only one, the ruby-throated hummingbird,
exhibits its beauty east of the Mississippi River, and but seven species
have their breeding range chiefly or entirely within the United States.
“They abound most in mountainous countries, where the configuration of
the surface and productions of the soil are most diversified within
small areas. Their center of abundance is among the Northern Andes,
between the parallels of ten degrees north and south of the equator,
from which region they gradually diminish in numbers both to the
northward and southward, but much more rapidly toward the extensive
lowlands of the eastern portion of the continent.”
A very interesting group, not so gem-like as many of their sister
species, is the hermit hummers represented by a number of species that
chiefly inhabit Brazil. These hummingbirds are notable for their plain
colors, their plumage having but little of the lustrous metallic
iridescence which is so marked a characteristic of the species with
which we are more familiar and which frequent flowers in the bright
sunshine. The laws of Nature seem to provide against excess even in
coloration. The hermit hummers obtain their food only from the insect
world, feeding upon those species found on the leaves of trees in deep
forests. In such a home a gorgeous dress would be out of place and
needless.
Regarding their actions, Mr. Robert Ridgway says: “Hummingbirds are so
distinct from other birds in their external structures and manner of
flight that they present in every respect, except when at rest, an
appearance entirely peculiar to themselves. They spend perhaps the
greater part of their time upon the wing, usually hovering or balancing
themselves before a flower from which they are procuring their
sustenance of honey or of minute insects. At such time the body is
nearly vertical or inclined at a slight angle, the head bent nearly at
right angles with the axis of the body, the wings spread nearly at right
angles with the same axis.” The motion of the wings, which is always
rapid, may carry the bird in a horizontal direction or poise it in its
vertical attitude directly over a flower. In this latter position the
motion of the wings is so rapid that a mere haze appears on each side of
the bird’s body. Mr. Gould, speaking of their flight, says “The bird
does not usually glide through the air with the quick, darting flight of
a swallow or swift, but continues tremulously moving its wings while
passing from flower to flower, or when taking a more distant flight over
a high tree or across a river.”
[Illustration: ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD.
(Calypte anna.)
Life-size.
FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.]
Such a dainty dress as that worn by most of the hummingbirds deserves
constant attention. Appreciating this these little lovers of sunshine
are very fond of preening their beautiful feathers. While thus engaged
they usually perch on a bare or dead twig in an exposed position. Truly
fortunate is he who is afforded the opportunity of watching a
hummingbird at this time. In this position various and graceful
attitudes are assumed and the colors of the plumage are most beautifully
exhibited. Mr. Audubon tells us that when perching the hummingbirds
“move sidewise in prettily measured steps, frequently opening and
closing their wings, pluming, stroking and arranging the whole of their
apparel with neatness and activity.”
Hummingbirds are very aggressive and show no fear, especially when
defending their nests. They will furiously attack any bird or other
animal that excites their enmity. They have been known to follow and
annoy hawks and other birds much larger than themselves.
Mr. Ridgway says: “In their disposition hummingbirds are not only very
tame but highly curious or inquisitive, and exhibit a special propensity
to closely inspect a human intruder to their domain.” This
characteristic may be frequently noticed in the actions of our common
ruby-throat. In spite of the fact that the hummingbirds are easily tamed
and may even be induced to take food from the hand or from a flower so
held as to attract their attention, they do not survive confinement for
any length of time.
Although the nectar of flowers forms a large part of their food, it has
been shown that insects also form no inconsiderable portion.
The high degree of intelligence possessed by the hummingbirds is shown
in the construction of their nests. Some of the species make the nests
“of such form or material as will serve to imitate natural excrescences
of a branch, such as a knot or a pine cone.” Other species make a
hammock-like nest that they suspend from cliffs by attaching spiders’
webs. Mr. Thomas M. Brewer writes: “Indeed, it is probable that there is
no other family whose architectural achievements are more varied than
those of the hummingbirds. These variations include not only the
material of which the nests are made and the positions in which they are
placed; but also the general style of their construction, exhibiting
constant differences, in the several species, in the ingenuity and
beauty displayed in each design.” Even individual species will change
the usual plan of their nests in order to adapt them to the requirements
of their environment. In favorable localities a new nest will be built
each season on top of the old one of the year before. “The hermit
hummingbirds fasten their elongated nests to one side of the extremity
of long-pointed leaves for protection, it is supposed, against monkeys
and other predaceous animals.”
The eggs of the hummingbirds, invariably two in number, are white and
free from spots. Though very small they are large when compared with the
size of the bird that laid them. It is claimed by most authorities that
under favorable conditions two broods are raised each season.
The Anna’s Hummingbird of our illustration is one of the most striking
of those best known. It is perhaps the most beautiful of the species
that frequent the United States. It is a native of California and in its
migrations passes southward through Arizona to the table-lands of
Mexico. It is also found in Lower California.
The head and ruff of the male have a lustrous metallic purplish red
color. The female is bronze green above, though the top of the head is
sometimes brownish, showing but little if any metallic luster. Both
sexes vary somewhat in color. This is especially true of the males, some
individuals having more purplish red on the crown and throat than
others.
This species inhabits a metal producing region and it is an interesting
fact, as cited by Mr. Gould in his “Monograph of the Hummingbirds,” that
“those districts or countries having a metalliferous character are
tenanted by species of hummingbirds which are more than ordinarily
brilliant and glittering.”
Major Charles Bendire in his “Life Histories of North American Birds,”
records an interesting observation of Mr. A. W. Anthony regarding the
hatching of an Anna’s Hummingbird. These words probably well describe
the process followed by all the species.
Writing in regard to a set of eggs which he had collected, he says: “I
was somewhat disgusted to find one of the eggs pipped and, realizing the
difficulty of making a presentable specimen of it, was on the point of
throwing it away when a movement on the part of the tiny creature within
the shell suggested to my mind that I hatch the egg and find out for
myself how baby hummingbirds come into the world. So far there was but a
pin point broken, the rest of the shell being intact; and it was several
minutes before the warmth of my hand, aided by my breath, produced
another movement upon the part of the prospective hummer; first a feeble
struggle, followed by an interval of rest; another squirm and the point
of the bill came in view and was withdrawn; after a moment’s rest a new
system was adopted, which consisted of turning around in the shell from
right to left and cutting a clean, smooth opening with the sharp, horny
tip on the upper mandible; this operation was evidently hard work and
required all the strength of the little mite, and frequent rests were
necessary to recruit. Sometimes an interval of twisting seemed to
accomplish nothing, and it would look as if all its struggles would be
in vain. I wondered whether the parent would not render a little
much-needed assistance at this stage; but after an interval of rest the
work would be continued with renewed vigor and another millimetre cut
toward the outer world. The cutting was all done in the same direction.
When the shell had been cut four-fifths around, the chick succeeded in
getting one claw hooked over the edge of the break, and by one or two
vigorous pushes broke the remaining shell, leaving in my hand two nearly
equal parts of what had been a hummingbird’s egg and a squirming
something that bore no semblance whatever to one of the peerless members
of the genus Calypte.” The entire operation, which added another
individual to America’s beautiful family of birds, required but fifteen
minutes of time. The energy and perseverance of the little mass of flesh
was a hint of that pugnacious disposition that would be so striking a
characteristic when it became fully grown and clothed with its
resplendent metallic plumage.