His wife looks very much like him, only she has no ruby jewels to wear.
"Bold as this bird is in darting about and chasing larger ones, he is less than four inches long--only about the size of one of the hawk-moths that come out to feed, just as this valiant pygmy lancer leaves the flowers for the night.
"These Hummingbirds live on honey and very small insects, and dread the cold so that they spend the winter southward from Florida.

But as soon as real spring warmth comes, they spread over the United States, east of the plains, and north even to the Fur Countries.

They are the only kind found in the eastern half of North America, though there are more than a dozen other species in the West, most of them near the Mexican borders of the United States.
"When the Hummers arrive here, early in May, we see the brilliant males darting about--sometimes, I am sorry to say, quarrelling with their rivals and giving shrill cries like the squeaking of young mice.

The last of May the dainty nest is made of plant-down and lichen scales.
Then the male goes off by himself and sulks.

You may see him feeding, but he keeps away from the nest--selfish bird that he is--until the little ones are ready to fly.
"Meanwhile the mother takes all the care and trouble herself, feeding her little Hummers in a peculiar way.