OF NEW ENGLAND. 301 



off twigs for their nests without any diminution of speed. It is 

 almost unnecessary to say that they feed entirely upon winged 

 insects, the indigestible parts of which they are said to dis- 

 gorge in pellets. 



The Chimney Swifts may easily be distinguished from the 

 true swallows by their peculiar and more rapid flight, their 

 long wings, and their apparent want of tail (as seen from a 

 distance). They sometimes skim over water, but more often 

 fly at a considerable or even a very great height. 



(d). Their only note is a loud chip, often repeated quickly 

 and vehemently, so as to bear a resemblance to the twittering 

 of the swallows. Their young, who are born blind, have a 

 much feebler voice. 



22. The TrochilidaB (or hummingbirds) are in North 

 America represented only by the typical subfamily, Trochilinoe 

 (while the other group, "Phcethornithince, representing about 

 one-tenth of the whole, is composed of duller colored species 

 especially inhabiting the dense forests of the Amazon"). The 

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird is an excellent type of the group. 

 The bill is very long and slender, being of a nearly equal depth 

 throughout ; the feet are small ; the wings long and with ten 

 primaries ; the tail is ten-feathered. 



The Alcedinidce (or kingfishers, 23) are in America repre- 

 sented fragmentarily by the subfamily Cerylinoe. They differ 

 strikingly from all the families to which they are allied by po- 

 sition in classification. The common Belted Kingfisher is a 

 good type. The bill is stout and pointed, about one-fourth as 

 deep as long ; the tarsi are extremely short ; the feet small, 

 and syndactyle from the union of the outer and middle toes 

 nearly throughout (pi. 1, fig. 24) ; 2 primaries ten, but tail- 

 feathers twelve. 



The Coccygince (or American cuckoos) form a distinct sub- 

 family of the large and much varied family, Cuculidce (or 

 cuckoos, 24). They are quite closely related to some of the 



*In many other birds the toes are partly united at the base. 



