BIRDS-TROCHILIDAE. 
129 
Family TROCHILIDAE* The Humming Birds. 
There is no group of birds so interesting to the ornithologist or to the casual observer as the 
humming birds, at once the smallest in size, the most gorgeously beautiful in color, and almost the 
most abundant in species of any single family of birds. They are strictly confined to the con¬ 
tinent and islands of America, and are most abundant in the Central American States, though 
single species range almost to the Arctic regions on the north and to Patagonia on the south, 
as well as from the seacoast to the frozen summits of the Andes. The number of known species 
considerably exceeds 300, and new ones are being constantly brought to light; so that an 
estimate of 400 species is, perhaps, not too large. Many are very limited in their range ; some 
confined to particular islands, even though of small dimensions. 
The hill of the humming bird is awl-shaped or subulate, thin, and sharp pointed ; straight 
or curved ; sometimes as long as the head ; sometimes much longer. The mandibles are exca¬ 
vated to the tip for the lodgment of the tongue, and form a tube by the close apposition of their 
cutting edges/ There is no indication of stiff bristly feathers at the base of the mouth. The 
tongue has some resemblance to that of the woodpeckers in the elongation of the cornua 
backwards, so as to pass round the back of the skull, and then anteriorly to the base of the bill. 
The tongue itself is of very peculiar structure, consisting anteriorly of two hollow threads 
closed at the ends and united behind. The food of the humming bird consists almost entirely 
of insects, which are captured by protruding the tongue into flowers of various shapes without 
opening the bill very wide. 
The wings of the humming birds are long and falcate; the shafts very strong ; the primaries 
usually ten in number, the first always longest; there are six secondaries. The tail has but 
ten feathers. The feet are small; the claws very sharp and strong. 1 
The species now known to inhabit the United States, though few, are yet nearly twice as 
many as given by Mr. Audubon. It is probable that additional ones will hereafter be detected, 
particularly on our southern borders. 
The different authors who have made a speciality of the humming birds have named a great 
many sub-families and genera, but there has as yet been no published systematic description of 
the higher groups. It is probable that the North American species belong to two different 
sub-families—the Lampornithinae and the Trocliilinae —and to at least four genera; but the 
precise character and limits of these I am unable to give. The following remarks, however, 
may serve to sketch out the characters of the North American species : 
A. Edges of mandible serrated near the end. Throat without metallic scale-like feathers. 
Lampornis. —Bill depressed, slightly curved. Tail broad, slightly emarginate; the 
outer feather as broad as the rest. Wings reaching the tip of tail. No metallic 
feathers on the throat. 
B. Edges of mandible nearly even towards the tip, without distinct serrations. Throat with 
metallic scale-like feathers. 
Trochilus. —Feathers of throat but little elongated laterally. Lateral tail feathers hut 
little narrower than the others, and lanceolate acute. Tail forked. 
1 Most of the above general remarks are borrowed from Burmeister, (Tliiore Brasilions, Vogel, 311.) to which I would refer 
for an excellent article on the structure and habits of humming birds. 
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