Hi--Wish I could get to BC to see the hummingbird, but meanwhile, if you
don't have a copy pf Ann Zwinger's "John Xantus, the Fort Tejon Letters,
1857-1859), you might enjoy the following blurb from the publisher's cover:

"John Xantus was a bit of a charlatan; of that there is little doubt. He
lied about his exploits, joined the U.S.Army under an assumed name, and
managed to alienate most of the people he met. Yet this Hungarian immigrant
became one of the Smithsonian Institution's most successful collectors of
natural history specimens in the mid-nineteenth century, and he is credited
with the discovery of many new species in the American West."

His letters during this period concerned his collections from the area
centered around Ft. Tejon (s. of Bakersfield) in the Tehachapi Mountains of
California. The book is fun to read.
But more fun to see the hummer!

Murray Hansen
Graham, WA
MurrayH at aol.com