ead, scolding
with a hum which, considering his size, might almost be called a roar. I
could not believe my ears until my eyes confirmed their testimony. The
sound was not made by the wings, but was plainly a cry strong and harsh
in an extraordinary degree.

The Western ruby-throat has other singularities which differentiate him
from his Eastern brother. It is very droll to see one of his family take
part in the clamors of a bird mob, perching like his bigger fellows,
and adding his excited cries to the notes of catbird and robin, chewink
and yellow-bird. Attracted one morning by a great bird outcry in a dense
young oak grove across the road, I left my seat under the cottonwoods
and strolled over toward it. It was plain that some tragedy was in the
air, for the winged world was in a panic. Two robins, the only pair in
the neighborhood, uttered their cry of distress from the top of the
tallest tree; a catbird hopped from branch to branch, flirting his tail
and mewing in agitation; a chewink or two near the ground jerked
themselves about uneasily, adding their strange, husky call to the
hubbub; and above the din rose the shrill voice of a humming-bird. Every
individual had his eyes fixed upon the ground, where it was evident that
some monster must be lurking. I expected a big snake at the very least,
and, putting the lower branches aside, I, too, peered into the
semi-twilight of the grove.

No snake was there; but my eyes fell upon an anxious little gray face,
obviously much disturbed to find itself the centre of so much attention.
As I appeared, this bugaboo, who had caused all the excitement,
recognized me as a friend and ran toward me, crying piteously. It was a
very small lost kitten!

I took up the stray little beastie, and a silence fell upon the
assembly in the trees, which began to scatter, each one departing upon
his own business in a moment. But the humming-bird refused to be so
easily pacified; he was bound to see the end of the affair, and he
followed me out of the grove, still vigorously speaking his mind about
the enemy in fur. I suspected that the little creature had wandered away
from the house on the hill above, and I went up to see. The hummer
accompanied me every step of the way, sometimes flying over my head, and
again alighting for a minute on a branch under which I passed. Not until
he saw me deliver pussy into the hands of her own family, and return to
my usual seat in the grove, did he release m