SYNOPSIS *. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE TROCHIL1DJE. 



Character of the Family. Bill longer than the head, straight 

 or curved ; the upper mandible slightly dilated at the 

 base, the lower entering or sheathed within the upper 

 the points very sharp. Nostrils basal, lateral, the open- 

 ing narrow, sometimes covered with the plumes of the 

 forehead. Tongue extensible, long, tubular, divided at 

 the tip, the os hyoides passing over the occiput (like that 

 of the Woodpeckers). Wings long, rigid, the quills round- 

 ed at the tips, the first longest, the others gradually de- 

 creasing in length. Tail composed of ten feathers, length 

 and form very varied. Tarsi small and slender, scutel- 

 lated ; toes three, nearly equal in length, the two internal 

 connected at the base ; hallux comparatively strongest, 

 the nails compressed, much hooked, very sharp. Plu- 

 mage with metallic lustre. Males usually adorned with 

 a gorget of scaly- formed feathers, crest, ruffs, or ear- tufts. 

 Native country Tropical America +. Contains five Sub- 

 Families. 



* The Synopsis is made out chiefly from the works of Vieillot an* 

 Audebert, and the Monograph of Lesson, compared, as far as possible, 

 with specimens in the Royal Edinburgh Museum, and in the collection of 

 the conductor. Mr Swainson's five sub-families are given, with that orni- 

 thologist's characters, but some species are placed without examination; 

 these, however, are generally marked with doubt. The five subdivi- 

 sions have been placed as sub-families, and Mr Swainson's title, -without 

 the proper termination, has been retained. Genera which have been 

 proposed by different ornithologists are marked under the typical species 

 of each. 



i The Northern and Nootka Humming-Birds are found in the north- 

 ern continent of America; and it is said that Mr Audubon has discovered 

 a third species occasionally inhabiting these northern latitudes. 

 VOL. VII. T 



