PASSERIN&. 287 
~ 
trude at will, like that of the Woodpeckers (and by the same mechanism), and 
which is split almost to its base, forming two filaments, employed, as is 
asserted, in taking up the nectar from flowers. They also, however, feed 
on small insects, for we have found their stomach filled with them. Their 
very small feet, broad tail, excessively long and narrow wings, short hu- 
merus and large sternum, which is without emargination, all contribute to 
form a system adapted for great power of flight, similar to that of the 
Swallows. The narrowness of their wing is caused by the rapid abbre- 
viation of its quills. By these means, they balance themselves in air 
with nearly as much facility as certain flies, and it is thus that they hum 
about flowers, and fly with more proportionate rapidity than any other 
bird. Their gizzard is very small, and they have no cecum, an additional 
mark of their affinity with the Woodpeckers. They live singly, defend 
their nests with courage, and fight desperately with each other. 
The name of Trocuitus, Lac., is especially reserved for such as have 
the bill arcuated; some of them are distinguished by the prolongation of 
the intermediate quills of their tail. We will mention one of the largest 
and most beautiful. 
Troch. pella; Colibri Topaze, Enl. 596. Purple-maronne; head, 
black; throat of the most brilliant topaz-yellow, changing into green, 
surrounded by black*. 
The lateral quills of the tail are very long in others}; several have 
tails moderately forked}; in the greater number it is round or square§. 
We call, 
OrtHorHyNeuuS (Fly-Birds), Lacep. 
Such as have a straight bill; some of them have tufted heads||. 
Others have tufts or elongated feathers on the sides of the head, and 
among them are found some with a pointed and very long tail**. 
* Add, Tr. superciliosus, Enl. 600, 3: Vieill. 17, 18, 19;—Tr. leucurus, Enl. 600, 
3;—Tr. squalidus, Natterer, Col. 120, f. 1;—Tr. brasiliensis, Lath. Col. 120, f. 2. 
+ Tr. forficatus, Edw. 33, Vieill. 80;—polithmus, Edw. 34, Vieill. 67, and particu- 
larly the magnificent Peruvian species, with the refulgent gold tail, Tr. chrysurus, 
Cuv. 
+ Tr. elegans, Vieill. 14. 
§ Tr. mango, L., Enl. I, 680, 2 and 3, Vieill. 7;—Tr. nevius, Dumont, Col. 120, 
f. 3;—Tr. gutturalis, Enl. 671;—Tr. taumantias, Enl. 600, 1;—Tr. violaceus, Enl. 
600, 2;—Tr. cinereus, Vieill. 5;—Tr. melanogaster, Vieill. 75;—Tr. jugularis, Sh. 
Edw. 266, 1, Vieill. 4;—Tr. holo-sericeus, Sh., Vieill. 6 and 65;—Tr. punctatus, Sh., 
Vieill. 8;—Tr. pectoralis, Sh. 9 and 70;—Tr. aurulentus, Sh., Vieill. 12;—Tr. aureo- 
viridis, Sh., Vieill. 15;—Tr. hirsutus, Gm., or brasiliensis, Sh., Vieill. 20;—7r. albus, 
Vieill. I11;—7r. viridis, Vieill. 15;—Tr. margaritaceus, Enl. 680, 1, Vieill. 16;—Tr. 
multicolor, Gm., or Harlequin Hummingbird, Lath. Supp. pl. exi, Vieill. 79;—Tr. la- 
zulus, Vieill. Gal. 179. 
|| Tr. cristatus, Edw. 37; Enl. 227, 1; Vieill. 47, 48;—Tr. pileatus, (puniceus, 
Gm.) Vieill. 63;—7r. Lalandii, Vieill. 18, f. 1 and 2;—Orthor. stephanioides, Less. 
and Garn. Voy. de la Coquille, pl. xxxi, No. 2. 
q Tr. ornatus, Enl. 640, 3; Vieill. 49, 50;—Tr. chalybeus, Vieill. 66, f. 2;—T7r. 
petasophorus, P. Max. Col. 203, 3;—Tr. scutatus, Natter., Col. 299, 3;—Tr. magnifi- 
cus, Ilig. Col. 299, 2;—7'r. mesoleucos, Tem. Col. 317. 
** Tr, bilophus, Temm. 
N. B. M. Swainson has named those Hummingbirds, the middle quills of whose 
tail are elongated, PH#TORNIS; those with a round or square tail, LamporNnis; the 
straight-billed ones, in which the quills of the wings are inflated, CampYLorpTERUS; 
and those with a forked tail, CyNANTHUS. 
