HUMMING-BIRDS. SYNDACTYL^L 69 



6 There are several sub divisions of this genus. Those known 

 in France under the name of ecfnle.ttes, 'Tichndrnma^ climb 

 like the preceding, but without supporting themselves with their 

 tail, which is feeble and rounded ; they keep more on walls and 

 rocks than on trees. 



7. The HUMMING-BIRDS, Trochilvs, ( p lafe 3, fiq. 1 1.) are 

 celebrated for the beautiful colours and metallic lustre of their 

 plumage, as well as for their small size; they inhabit America 

 and the adjacent islands. Their beak is long, straight or arcuate, 

 tubular and very slender ; their tongue is long, extensible and 

 bifid, that is, divided into two filaments ; their nostrils are covered 

 by a wide arched membrane, and their feet, which are very short, 

 have the tarsi shorter than the middle toe ; their wings are very 

 long; their plumage is sometimes ornamented with patches that 

 are as brilliant as precious stones They feed on the nectar of 

 flowers, about which they are seen buzzing and balancing in the 

 air like certain flies, or rather butterflies. They sometimes eat 

 small flies and other diminutive insects which they find in flowers. 

 They live isolated, and defend their nests courageously, and some- 

 times contend fiercely with each other. The Northern Hum- 

 miny-bird, Ttochilus colubris, is golden-green ; the tail forked 

 and dusky, and the three outer tail feathers are of a rusty white 

 at tip. The male has a changeable ruby-coloured throat, which 

 in the female is nearly white. This wonderfully diminutive and 

 brilliant bird, is the only one of an American genus, of more than 

 a hundred species, which ventures beyond the limits of tropical 

 climates. 



8. The Hoopoe*, Upupa, have an ornament on the head 

 formed of a double range of long feathers, which they can erect 

 at will. 



FAMILY OF SYNDACTYL.E. 



9. In the birds of this family, the external toe is almost as long 

 as the middle one, to which it is joined by a membrane as far as 

 the penultimate articulation. 



10. The principal genera of this family, are: the Bee-eaters, 

 the King Fishers, and the Calaos, or Hornbills, which may be 

 readily distinguished from each other by the form of the beak. 



6. How do the eche.lr.ttes differ from the Creepers properly so called ? 



7. How are Humming-birds characterised ? What are their liahits 

 Upon what do they feed ? What are ike characters of the Northern Hum- 

 ming-birds ? 



8. How are the Hoopoes distinguished ? 



9. How are birds of the famiy of Syndactylae characterised? 

 10. What aie the pr.ncipal genera of this family ? 



ac 



