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322 TROPICAL NATUREtamed a number of the Kuby-throat in the United States. Hefound that when fed for three weeks on syrup they drooped,but after being let free for a day or two they would return tothe open cage for more of the syrup. Some which had beenthus tamed and set free returned the following year, and atonce flew straight to the remembered little cup of sweets.Mr. Grosse in Jamaica also kept some in captivity, and foundthe necessity of giving them insect food; and he remarksthat they were very fond of a small ant that swarmed on thesyrup with which they were fed. It is strange that, with allthis previous experience and information, those who haveattempted to bring live humming-birds to this country havefed them exclusively on syrup ;and the weakness producedby this insufficient food has no doubt been the chief cause oftheir death on, or very soon after, arrival. A box of antswould not be difficult to bring as food for them, but evenfinely-chopped meat or yolk of egg would probably serve, inthe absence of insects, to supply the necessary proportion ofanimal food.NestsThe nests of the humming-birds are, as might be expected,beautiful objects, some being no larger inside than the half ofa walnut shell. These small cup-shaped nests are often placedin the fork of a branch, and the outside is sometimes beautifullydecorated with pieces of lichen, the body of the nestbeing formed of cottony substances and the inside lined withthe finest and most silky fibres. Others suspend their neststo creepers hanging over water, or even over the sea ;andthe Pichincha humming-bird once attached its nest to a strawropehanging from the roof of a shed. Others again buildnests of a hammock-form attached to the face of rocks byspiders' web; while the little forest-haunting species fastentheir nests to the points or to the under-sides of palm-leavesor other suitable foliage. They lay only one or two whiteGeographical Distribution and VariationMost persons know that humming-birds are found only inAmerica; but it is not so generally known that they arealmost exclusively tropical birds, and that the few species that