8o 



PASSERES. 



Sub-Family II. 

 THE CURVED-BILLED HUMMING-BIRDS. TROCHILIN/E. 



General Characteristics. — Bill more or kss long, slender, and curved, the lateral 

 margins usually dilated and overlapping the lower mandible; the nostrils basal, the 

 opening covered with a large scale, which is sometimes entirely concealed by the 

 projecting plumes ; wings long and pointed ; tail more or less long, and of various 

 forms ; tarsi very short ; toes long and slender, with the lateral ones united at their 

 base, the hind toe long, and armed with a more or less lengthened claw. 



The Humming-Birds belonging to this sub-family are inhabi- 

 tants of the central and warmer regions of America and the West 

 Indies ; one of the prettiest, 



Fig. 40.— The E.'iGLE Humming-Dikd {Ento.xcrcs aqicila). 



The Topaz Hunaming-Bird {Topaza pelld), is an inhabitant of the low 

 districts of Cayenne, Trinidad, and Surinam, and also of the countries border- 

 ing the Lower Amazon. The male measures about six inches in length, exclu- 

 sive of a pair of elongated tail-feathers that are wanting in the female, which 

 is also smaller than her mate. The whole of the back and wing-coverts in the 

 male are deep crimson red, verging to orange towards the tail, and gradually 

 giving place to a bronzed green in the upper tail-coverts. The head is deep 

 violet black, and from it a broad band passes down the sides of the neck and 

 across the throat, enclosing a large space of the most brilliant .golden green, 

 glowing in the centre with the sheen of a topaz. The general colour of the 



