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FAMILY TROCHILIN^E. 

 HUMMING-BIRDS. 



GENUS TROCHILUS — LINN. 



HUMMING-BIRD. ^ 



[Bill long, straight, or slightly arched — body small — wings very long, acute- 

 tail rather long — feet short.] 



TROCHILUS COLUBRIS— LINN. 



RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 



Humming-Bird, Trochilus colubris, VVils. Amer. Orn. 



Trochilas colubris, Bonap. Syn. 



Trochilus colubris, Nonhcrn Humming-Bird, Sw. & Rich. 



Riiby-ihroated Huirujiing-Bird, Nuit. Man. 



Ruby-ihroated Humming-Bird, Trochilus colubris, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Male, upper parts green, with golden re- 

 flections ; throat black, in certain lights ruby-red. Female, upper 

 parts not so deep green, and the metallic lustre wanting on the 

 throat. Adult male with the bill straight, very slender ; upper 

 parts and middle pair of tail feathers golden green; rest of the tail 

 feathers dark brown, tinged with purple ; upper part of the throat 

 covered with deeply furrowed scale-like feathers, which, when 

 placed in a certain light, produce a brilliant ruby-red color ; sides 

 of the body dusk)'', glossed with green ; vent white ; wings black- 

 ish-brown, glossed with violet, distinctly forked. Female without 

 the brilliant feathers so conspicuous in the male ; lower parts 

 white ; tail rounded, tipped with white. Young male, with the 

 brilliant ornament on the throat not fully developed until the second 

 year. Length of male three inches and a halfj wing one and five- 

 eighths. Female larger than the male. 



This, the gem of our birds, is said to roam during spring and 

 summer from Texas to the Fur countries, up to the fifty-seventh 

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