THE RED-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 137 



OF THE HUMMING-BIRDS IN GENERAL. 



THE characters of this tribe are, a slender, weak bill, in some species 



curved, in others 

 straight ; the nostrils 

 are minute: the 

 tongue is very long, 

 and formed of two 

 conjoined cylindrical 

 tubes: the legs are 

 weak : the toes placed 

 three forward and one 

 backward : and the tall 



THE HCM^O-B.0. COIlsisting Of tCtt 



feathers. 



The Humming-birds are the most diminutive of all the feathered 

 tribes. They are natives of the warmer parts of America, and of 

 some of the West-India islands ; and bear a great resemblance to 

 each other in manners. Their principal food, is the nectar at the 

 bottom of tubular-shaped flowers: this they extract, while on wing, 

 by means of their long and slender bill. Their name is derived from 

 the humming noise they make with their wings. They are grega- 

 rious; and construct an elegant hemispherical nest, in which they lay 

 two small white eggs, that are hutched by the sitting of the male and 

 female alternately, The young-ones are often attacked and devoured 

 by Spiders. These birds may be caught by blowing water upon them 

 from a tube; or, like many of our small birds, they may be shot with 

 sand. Small as they are, they are extremely bold and pugnacious. 

 Their colors are too brilliant to be expressed by any pencil. 



THE RED-THROATED HUMMIMG-BIRD 



The length of this diminutive creature is somewhat more than 

 three inches ; of which its bill occupies three quarters of an inch. 

 The male is of a green -gold color on the upper part, with a change- 

 able copper gloss; arid the under parts are gray. The throat and 

 forepart of the neck are of a ruby color, in some lights as bright as 

 fire. When viewed sideways, the feathers appear mixed with gold, 

 and beneath they are of a dull garnet color. The two middle feathers 

 of the tail are similar in color to the upper plumage, and the rest are 

 brown. 



The female, instead of the bright ruby throat, has only a few 

 obscure brown spots ; and all the outer tail-feathers, which in the male 

 \re plain, are in the female tipped with white. 



.This beautiful little creature is as admirable for its vast swiftness 

 in the air, and its manner of feeding, as for the elegance and brilliancy 

 of its colors. It flies so swiftly, that the eye is incapable of following 

 its course ; and the motion of its wings is so rapid, as to be imper- 



