BIRDS —TROCHILIDAE—TROCHILUS COLUBRIS. 
131 
much the same, except that the feathers are rather narrower, and less rounded at the tip. They 
are also margined more broadly with black. 
The claim of the Mango humming bird to a place in the fauna of the United States rests on 
the capture of a specimen at Key West, Florida, by Dr. Strobel, many years ago. The speci¬ 
mens described here are from South America. 
TROCHILUS, Linnaeus. 
Trochilus, Linnaeus, Systema Naturae ,1748. (Agassiz.) 
I have nothing to add to the diagnosis of the genus Trochilus already given on a preceding 
page, except to remark that in the North American species the female has the outer tail feathers 
lanceolate, as in the male, though much broader. The outer feathers are broad to the terminal 
third, where they become rapidly pointed, the tip only somewhat rounded ; the sides of this 
attenuated portion (one or other, or both) broadly and concavely emarginated, which dis¬ 
tinguishes them from the females of Selaspliorus and Atthis, in which the tail is broadly linear 
to near the end, which is much rounded without any distinct concavity. 
The following diagnosis will serve to distinguish the species found in the United States. 
Common Characters.—A bove and on the sides metallic green. A ruff of metallic feathers 
from the bill to the breast, behind which is a whitish collar, confluent with a narrow abdominal 
stripe ; a white spot behind the eye. Tail feathers without light margins. 
Tail deeply forked, (.30 of an inch.) Throat bright coppery red from the chin. Tail 
of female rounded, emarginated........ ........ colubris. 
Larger. Tail slightly forked, (.10 of an inch.) Throat gorget with violet, steel green, 
or blue reflections behind; anteriorly opaque velvety black. Tail of female graduated; 
not emarginated.......... T. Alexandri. 
TROCHILUS COLUBRIS, Linnaeus. 
Ruby-throated Humming Bird. 
Trochilus colubris, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 191.— Wilson. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 26 ; pi. x.— Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 
248 ; ph 47 .—Ib. Birds Amer. IY, 1842, 190 ; pi. 253. 
Ornismya colubris, Deville, Rev. et. Mag. Zool. May, 1852, (habits.) 
Sp. Ch.— Tail in the male deeply forked ; the feathers all narrow lanceolate-acute. In the female slightly rounded and 
emarginate ; the feathers broader, though pointed. Male, uniform metallic green above ; a ruby red gorget with no conspicuous 
ruff; a white collar on the throat ; sides of body greenish ;^tail feathers uniformly brownish violet. Female, without the red on 
the throat •, the tail is rounded and emarginate, the inner feathers shorter than the outer ; the tail feathers banded with black, 
and the outer tipped with white ; no rufous nor cinnamon on the tail in either sex. Length 3.25 ; wing 1.60 ; tail 1.25 ; bill .65. 
Hab ^—Eastern North America to the high central plains ; south to Brazil. 
The bill of this species is slightly depressed, subcylindrical, very little decurved, and conically 
pointed at the end. Measured along the gape it is about half as long as the wing, which is 
falcate. In the male the outer tail feathers are all a little curved, the concavity inward ; the 
feathers are narrow and lanceolate-pointed, especially the exterior, which is only .16 of an inch 
wide ; the others are successively a little broader. The tail is rather deeply forked ; the 
exterior a very little shorter than the second ; the rest becoming rapidly shorter. The longest 
