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Family trochilinjE. 

 humming-birds. 



GENUS TROCHILUS — LINN 



HUMMING-BIRD. 



[Bill long, straight, or slightly arched — body small — wings very long, acute — 

 tail rather long — feet short.] 



TROCHILUS COLUBRIS— LINN. 



RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 



Humming-Bird, Trochilus colubris, Wils. Amer. Orn. 



Trochilus coiubris, Bonap. Syn. 



Trochilus colubris, Northern Humming-Bird, Sw. & Rich. 



Ruby-ihroated Humming-Bird, Nutt. Man. 



Ruby-ihroated Humming-Bird, Trochilus colubris, And. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Male, upper parts green, with golden re- 

 flections : throat black, in certain lights ruby-red. Female, upper 

 parts not so deep green, and the metallic lustre wanting on the 

 throat. Adult male with the bill straight, very slender ; upper 

 parts and middle pair of tail feathers golden green; rest of the tail 

 feathers dark brown, tinged with purple ; upper part of the throat 

 covered with deeply furrowed scale-like feathers, which, when 

 placed in a certain light, produce a brilliant ruby-red color ; sides 

 of the body dusky, glossed with greeAi ; vent white; wings black- 

 ish-brown, glossed with violet, distinctly forked. Female without 

 the brilliant feathers so conspicuous in the male ; lower parts 

 white ; tail rounded, tipped with white. Young male, with the 

 brilliant ornament on the throat not fully developed until the second 

 year. Length of male three inches and a half, wing one and five- 

 eighths. Female larger than the male. 



This, the gem of our birds, is said to roam during spring and 

 summer from Texas to the Fur countries, up to the fifty-seventh 

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