HUMMING-BIRD. 



801 



cession. The most singular part of the tail, however, 

 is the four remaining feathers. These are of the 

 same colour as the wings, and taper gradually to 

 perfect points, the inner pair being nearly twice the 

 length of the blue feathers, and the outer pair a good 

 deal more. This peculiar production of the tail fea- 

 thers is characteristic of the mature birds only, as is 

 also the brilliant green and the orange crescent on 

 the throat and breast. The outline of this species is 

 particularly graceful. 



BLACK-CAPPED HUMMING-BIRD (C.polytmus). This 

 is another very elegant species, remarkable for the 

 length to which the feathers of the tail are produced. 

 It has been procured for this country chiefly from 

 the island of Jamaica, where it is far from being rare ; 

 but it occurs also in many others of the West India 

 islands, and also on the main land of South America. 

 Estimated by the length, it is a bird of considerable 

 size, for it measures nine inches from the extremity 

 of the bill to that of the produced feathers of the tail. 

 Of these nine inches, however, the tail occupies two- 

 thirds, and the bill one-third of the remainder, so that 

 the length of the body and head is reduced to two 

 inches. The wings are long and powerful as com- 

 pared with the size and weight of the body, but short 

 as compared with the tail ; and thus the bird, when it 

 hovers about, has some resemblance to a dragon-fly 

 on the wing. The bill is very slightly curved, lemon 

 yellow for the greater part of its length, and black at 

 the tip. The tarsi and toes are reddish yellow. The 

 whole upper part of the head is covered with black 

 feathers considerably produced, of a silky texture, and 

 without any metallic reflections. The rest of the 

 body, with the exception of the gorget and the under 

 tail coverts, is rich golden green ; the gorget is scaly, 

 and emerald green of the utmost intensity of tint ; 

 and the under tail coverts are grey, with greyish pur- 

 ple tips. The wings are deep brownish black, with a 

 tinge of purple. The tail is much forked, and con- 

 sists of ten feathers ; the middle ones are short, and 

 three others on each side increase in length by nearly 

 equal stages, while the two external ones reach be- 

 yond the longest of the others for a length nearly 

 equal to that of the bill, body and other tail fea- 

 thers taken together. They are rather narrow, but 

 of uniform breadth throughout, and the produced 

 part of them is flexible and waving. The general 

 colour of the tail is brownish black with reflections 

 varying from purplish grey to bright green. The 

 female has the under part white, breaking with the 

 green on the sides of the neck. The tail wants the 

 produced feathers, and is green, with the exception 

 of about half the length of each of the four external 

 ones towards the tip, which is white. 



DUPONT'S HUMMING-BIRD (C 1 . Dupontii), This is 

 a slender species, with the bill very long, and the tail 

 of considerable length, though not so much so as in 

 the previously noticed species. The entire length is 

 about four inches, of which the bill and tail occupy 

 nearly one half. The bill is long and slender, with very 

 little curvature, and exceedingly sharp at the point ; 

 the upper part is yellowish green, of a glittering lustre, 

 but not metallic ; the gorget, which rises so high as 

 nearly to include the eyes, and extends far back on 

 the sides of the neck, consists of scaly feathers, and 

 varies from intense black to rich deep blue, according 

 to the light in which it is seen ; the flanks and belly 

 are pale brownish green, passing into whitish on the 

 shoulders, and pure white on the vent ; the tail con- 



NAT. HIST. VOL. II. 



sists of ten feathers, extending by gradually increas- 

 ing differences from the central ones, which are very 

 short, to the external ones, which are rather long, and 

 have their extremities slightly rocket shaped ; they 

 have white tips succeeded by fawn colour, and then 

 by a reddish tinge at the base ; the wings, with the ex- 

 ception of the lesser coverts, which are like the upper 

 part, are purple brown, of mean length, very narrow, 

 and falchion shaped. The bird is a native of Mexico, 

 and probably also of some of the other elevated plains 

 among the Andes. 



SAPPHIRE-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD (f. sapphiri- 

 nus). This is rather a showy species, about three 

 inches and a half in length, of which the wings and 

 tail occupy about a half ; the body is stout for the 

 size of the bird, and the wings are rather long ; the 

 bill is long, slender, very little bent, bright yellow for 

 the greater part of its length, but black at the tip ; 

 the top of the head and all the upper parts of the 

 body are rich golden green, which passes into brown- 

 ish green on the flanks and belly, and into grey on 

 the vent feathers ; the chin is clear reddish chestnut, 

 and below that there is an extensive gorget of beau- 

 tiful sapphire blue extending down to the middle of 

 the breast, and composed of scaly feathers ; the extre- 

 mity of the tail is nearly even, and the colour a uniform 

 madder red. The female wants the red on the chin, 

 and is every way duller in the colours. This species 

 is pretty generally distributed, being found along the 

 whole northern-coast of South America from Brazil 

 westwards ; and it is not rare in its localities. 



WAGLER'S HUMMING-BIRD (C. Waglerii). In its 

 form this bird bears some resemblance to the species 

 last mentioned, but its colouring is very different. 

 The whole plumage, including even the wings and 

 tail feathers, is nearly of one uniform tint, namely, 

 deep and rather dull emerald green, almost black in 

 the shade, and inclining to a dull bluish tint on the 

 quills and tail feathers. The body, however, possesses 

 very rich reflections of blue and gold, according as it 

 is turned to the light, and the quills and tail feathers 

 furnish equally rich reflections of purple. The 

 bill is long, perfectly straight, and slender ; and the 

 wings, though rather narrow, are long and falchion- 

 shaped. The tail is strong and broad, composed of ten, 

 feathers, and forked at the extremity. This species 

 is a native of Brazil. 



SAPPHIRE AND EMERALD HUMMING-BIRD (C.bicolor). 

 In form this species resembles the last-mentioned, 

 but its colours are different. The green on the upper 

 part is richer ; and the colour of the throat, the 

 breast, and the tail, is much bluer. The former in- 

 deed forms a gorget of very rich blue of bright metallic 

 lustre, which fades gradually into bluish green on the 

 belly. The tail is steel blue on both surfaces, and 

 very little forked. The female has the throat and 

 breast nearly white, and the rest of the under part 

 only mottled with green. The young males have the 

 blue gorget very dull, the flanks and vent feathers of 

 a greenish black colour; and the whole plumage 

 without that brilliancy which characterises the full- 

 ^rown male. It is found in the low and rich countries 

 in the north part of South America, and also in 

 several of the West India islands ; but it does not 

 occur, or at all events has not been met with, in 

 elevated countries, such as Mexico and Upper Peru. 



FORKED-TAILED VioLETHuMMiNG-BiRD(C./Mratf MS). 

 This species is not so forked in the tail as some of 

 the others ; but as it happened to be the first forked- 

 EEE 



