GENERA AND SPECIES. 129 



prehension of a beak so armed as is that of the 

 present species. In G-ould's cabinet. 



Genus GLAUCIS, Boie. 



Passing to the genus Glaucis, Boie, distin- 

 guished by the arched form of the beak, and of 

 which the Trochilus hirsutus, or Hairy-legged 

 Humming-bird, is an example (Naturalist's 

 Libr. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 129), we may here de- 

 scribe the Trochilus aquila, or Eagle Humming- 

 bird, as a typical form illustrative of the genus. 



Example. Trochilus aquila, Bourcier (from 

 Loddige's MSS.) Adult male. The beak very 

 much arched, describing the third of a circle ; 

 the mandibles robust, very dilated at the base, 

 and pointed at the tip : the upper mandible 

 black, rounded above, and channelled along each 

 side ; the lower mandible white, also channelled 

 along the sides, and somewhat exceeding the 

 upper in length. The head greyish-black ; the 

 neck, the scapulary feathers, those of the back, 

 and the tail-coverts, of a glossy blue-green, the 

 latter being slightly fringed with rufous. The 

 throat and all the under surface of the body 

 clothed with silky feathers, of a greyish-black, 

 dashed with white : the under tail-coverts grey, 

 white in their centre. The wings are almost 

 straight, with powerful quill-feathers, of a grey- 

 ish-black. The tail is rounded fan-like, and is 

 composed of angular feathers, of a pale bluish- 

 green, with the tips white ; this white is most 



