William Houck, age l2, of Allentown, Pa., for his question:

Do hummingbirds migrate?

You would expect these midgets of the bird world to tire after zooming once or twice around the garden  but the jewel colored hummers are little powerhouses of energy. If you think they cannot fly hundreds of miles like other migrating birds, you are wrong  for they can and they do. Of the more than 400 species, l9 nest and raise their tiny chicks in the United States. Of these, l8 migrate every year to spend the winter season south of the border.

Many go down to Mexico and other parts of Central America. One species feasts on tiny flower bugs. He crosses the Gulf of Mexico, and his migration is a non stop flight of some 500 miles. A gaudy midget called the Anna hummingbird is a year around resident in California. Our other hummers migrate hundreds of miles between their winter and summer home.