SYNOPSIS* 
SYNOPSIS OF THE TROCHILID^. 
Character of the Family* Bill longer than the head, straight 
or curved; the upper mandible slightly dilated at the 
base, the lowrer 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, ruffe, or ear- tufts. 
Native country Tropical America +. Contains five Sub- 
Families. 
* The Synopsis is made out chiefly from tlie works of Vieillot anH 
Audeberti aud 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 sutHfamilies, and Mr Swainson’s title, without 
the proper termination, has been retained. Genera which have been 
proposed by difierent ornithologists are marked unier the typical species 
of each. 
1 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 
