L. D. Rucker, age 14, of Douglass, Kansas, for his question:

Which is the world's smallest bird?

You would expect him to be one of the 400 or so hummingbird species, and so he is. He is the bee hummingbird and when fully groan he weighs about as much as one dime. From the tip of his slender bill to the end of his stubby tail, he measures just about two inches. If we neglect to measure his bill and tail, he measures only one inch. All hummers buzz like bees, but this one is not much bigger than a bumblebee.

The world's smallest bird makes his home in Cuba and on the Isle of Pines. The handsome midget wears a glistening red cap on his miniature head, a vivid red bib under his chin and ruby red tufts over his ears. Several hummers visit North America for the summer nesting season, though only one species comes east of the Rockies. He is the bejeweled ruby throated hummingbird    about 3 1/2 inches long and equal to the weight of two bee hummingbirds.