IT'S A "HUMMER!"

Truly the Hummingbird is a "hummer", as we apply the term to every day life, for it is one of the most interesting of all birds. As they dart about among the flowers in the high subalpine meadows at this time their brilliant hues vie with the floral hues until they seem as some fragment of a rainbow that has been marooned here for some reason or other.

Two species are found on the "Mountain" -- the Rufus, whose general body color is reddish and the Caliope, which flashes a metallic green -- but both of these are but visitors. They are travelers, coming north each summer for many miles to spend a short time with us. Yet their visit, however short, is one full of interest to the bird lover. Early in the spring, when the Red Currant was in bloom at sea level along Puget Sound, the writer saw them busily engaged with that flower and as the season advanced to the higher elevations these "Hummers" followed until a few weeks ago they were quite in evidence here in Paradise Valley, attracted to the vicinity no doubt by the gorgeous flower meadows so characteristic of this elevation here. A few days ago while resting near the edge of the Paradise Glacier a Rufus Hummingbird was noticed in the vicinity and his brilliant metallic hue was sharply contrasted to the white of the snow that overlaid the ice. For a few moments he hovered near -- then glided away upon rapidly moving wings to a clump of heather where he probed the tiny flossoms for awhile, before departing from the vicinity.

C. Frank Brockman,
Park Naturalist.