INSESSORES : TROCHILIM:. 155 



rainbow, as the hues of emerald, and ruby, and amethyst, 

 and topaz, and burnished gold, which flash from these 

 beautiful forms of life, as they glance among the foliage, 

 or dart from flower to flower seeking their accustomed 

 food. They belong exclusively to the continent and 

 islands of America, and are the most numerous in the 

 hot regions. Some species range north to the Arctic 

 regions, and south to Patagonia ; and from the level of 

 the sea to the cold heights of the Andes. The feet of 

 humming-birds are very small, the wings very long and 

 narrow, and the tail broad. Everything in their organiza- 

 tion contributes to give them great power and rapidity 

 of flight ; and they are able to balance themselves in the 

 air, or beside a flower, with a facility that is truly won- 

 derful, and which finds a parallel only among some of 

 the insect tribes. The bill is awl-shaped, thin, sharp- 

 pointed, straight, or curved ; in some cases as long as 

 the head, and in others much longer. The mandibles 

 are excavated to the tip for a lodgment of the tongue, 

 and form a tube by the close fitting of Fig. 9 g. 



their cutting edges. The tongue, which 

 is split almost to its base, forming two 

 hollow threads, is protruded at will, like 

 that of the woodpeckers, and by the 

 same sort of mechanism. The food con- T - colubris * Linn 

 sists of insects and honey, which are secured by extend- 

 ing the tongue into flowers without opening very wide 

 the bill. About four hundred species are known ; and 

 six or more are found in North America. 



The Black-throated Humming-Bird, Lampornis mango, 

 Sw., of South America and perhaps northward to Florida, 

 is four and a half inches long, and the wing two and six 

 tenths inches. 



The Ruby-throated Humming Bird, Trochilus colubris, 

 Linn., of North America to Brazil, is three and a quarter 

 inches long, and the wing one inch and six tenths. 



