The wings do not seem to be made of feathers, but of gauze, like those of insects. I never really saw the feathers until I held a dead hummingbird in my hand. Its iridescent body seems made of burnished metal.

It is wonderful that so tiny a creature can wing its way from Central America to the heart of Canada. It seems to know no fear; it is quite able to defend itself with its long sharp bill. Mr. Forbush says: “The males fight with one another, and, secure in their unequalled powers of flight, they attack other and larger birds. When the Hummingbird says ‘Go!’ other birds stand not upon the order of their going, but go at once; while the little warrior sometimes accelerates their flight, for his sharp beak is a weapon not to be despised. Even the Kingbird goes when the war-like Hummer comes; the English Sparrow flees in terror; only the Woodpeckers stand their ground.”[103]

Hummingbirds are not only fearless and pugnacious, but they are very inquisitive. Major Bendire says: “I once occupied quarters that were completely covered with trumpet-vines, and when these were in bloom the place fairly swarmed with Ruby-throats. They were exceedingly inquisitive, and often poised themselves before an open window and looked in my rooms, full of curiosity, their bright little eyes sparkling like black beads. I caught several—by simply putting my hand over them, and while so imprisoned they never moved, and feigned death, but as soon as I opened my hand they were off like a flash. They seem to be especially partial to anything red.”[104]

Their fondness for honey-producing flowers has caused many people to believe that they live upon nectar and ambrosia, like the gods of the Greeks, but the Biological Survey, has, by close observation, discovered that they do not visit flowers wholly for the purpose of gathering honey, but for obtaining also small insects that have been drowned in a welter of sweetness. Professor Beal has observed them “hovering in front of a cobweb, picking off insects and perhaps spiders entangled in the net. They have also been observed to capture their food on the wing, like flycatchers. Stomach examination shows that a considerable portion of their food consists of insects and spiders.” Professor Beal continues: “Although hummingbirds are the smallest of the avian race, their stomachs are much smaller in proportion to their bodies than those of other birds, while their livers are much larger. This would indicate that these birds live to a considerable extent upon concentrated sweets, as stated above, and that the insects, spiders, etc., found in the stomachs do not represent by any means all their food.”[105]

A physician of my acquaintance owns a camp in the New Hampshire woods. A birch near his house was attacked by sapsuckers. Sap exuded plentifully and was eagerly sought by two red squirrels, a small swarm of bees, two sapsuckers, and seven hummingbirds. With his glasses, the doctor observed the birds eating insects served in birch syrup.

Professor Beal reports having seen as many as one hundred hummingbirds “hovering about the flowers of a buckeye tree, and this number was maintained all day and for many days, though the individuals were going and coming all the time.” Burroughs once saw a hummingbird take his morning bath in dewdrops.

There are about five hundred known species of hummingbird. They may be found in North and South America from Alaska to Patagonia. They are most numerous in northern South America, in Colombia and Ecuador. Seventeen species are found in our western and southwestern states, but only one, the Ruby-throat, lives in the East.