HUMMINGBIRDS 



235 



KEY TO ADULT MALE TROCHILUS. 



1. Throat velvety black. Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 



alexandri, p. 235. 

 1'. Throat metallic crimson. Plains to Atlantic . . . colubris, p. 235. 



Subgenus Trochilus. 

 428. Trochilus colubris Linn. RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. 



Adult male, Chin velvety black, scales of gorget brilliant crimson, upper 

 parts bronzy green ; under 

 parts dark gray glossed with 

 green; wing with six inner 

 primaries abruptly shorter 

 than the rest. Adult female : 

 tail with middle feathers all 

 green, the rest green basally, 

 then black ; three outer pairs 

 broadly tipped with white. 

 Young male : similar to adult 

 female, but throat streaked 

 with dusky, and feathers of 

 upper parts edg'ed with pale 

 buffy. Young female : sim- 

 ilar, but throat without 

 streaks, and tail more 

 rounded. Male : length 3.07- 

 8.25, wing- 1.60, tail 1.25, tail 

 forked for about .30-.35, ex- 

 posed culmen .5S-.65. Fe- 

 male : length 3.50-3.85, wing 

 1.80, tail 1.20, bill .70. 



Distribution. Breeds 

 from the Atlantic to western 



parts of Nebraska and Tex.-is, , 



and from Labrador south to 

 Florida ; migrates to Cuba, Mexico, and Central America. 



Nest. A felted cup of soft vegetable fibers coated with lichen and 

 fastened with web ; saddled on to a twig or small branch of a tree, usually 

 10 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs : 2, white. 



Food. Largely minute spiders and insects. 



The ruby-throated hummingbird has been reported as breeding in 

 the western parts of Nebraska and Texas. 



429. 



Muls. BLACK-CHINNED HUM- 



Trochilus alexandri Bourc. 

 MINGBIRD. 



Adult male. Gorget above opaque velvety black, below metallic violet glit- 

 tering- with purple, blue, and peacock green lights; upper parts 

 greenish ; under parts soiled whitish, green on sides. Adult 

 female : upper parts bronzy green ; under parts grayish ; 

 tail much rounded, middle pair of feathers about the longest 

 and wholly green, next two feathers green tipped with black, 

 outer three tipped with white. Young : similar to adult female, 

 but feathers of upper parts tipped with buffy or rusty and 

 throat of male streaked with dusky. Male: length 3.30-3.75, wing 1.70- 

 1.75, tail 1.25, bill .70-.75. Female: length 3.90-4.10, wing 1.90-2.00. 



Fig. 307. 



