. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 166 THE SWORD-BILL HUMMING-BIRD. This cmious species is rather large, as it measures about eight inches in length. It inhabits Santa Fe de Bogota, the Carracas and Quito, and is generally found at considerable elevations, having been often seen at a height of twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea. The inordinately long bill is given to this bird in order to enable it to obtain its food from the very long pendent corollas of the Brugmansia?, and, while probing the liowers with i
. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 166 THE SWORD-BILL HUMMING-BIRD. This cmious species is rather large, as it measures about eight inches in length. It inhabits Santa Fe de Bogota, the Carracas and Quito, and is generally found at considerable elevations, having been often seen at a height of twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea. The inordinately long bill is given to this bird in order to enable it to obtain its food from the very long pendent corollas of the Brugmansia?, and, while probing the liowers with its beak, it suspends itself in the air with a tremulous movement of the wings. Its movements are singularly elegant, and while engaged in feeding it performs the most grace- ful manoeuvres as it probes the pendent blossoms, searching to their inmost depths. The. nest of this species is hung to the end of a twig, to whicli it is woven with marvellous skill, and its whole construction is very beautiful. The adult male bird is colored as follows. The head and the upper part of the body are green, glossed with gold in some parts and with bronze in othei-s, the tints changing according to the light. The wings are dark blacl^^-brown witli a purple gloss, and the tail is dark blac^k, bionzed on the upper surface. Behind eacli eye is a small but conspicuous white spot slightly elongated, and there is a broad crescent-shaped mark of light green on each side of the neck. The under parts are of a bronze-green, and the under tail-coverts are flecked with a little white. The female is of much the same color as the male upon the upper parts of the body, except that there is a little white upon the lower part of the back and a narrow white line behind the eye. The throat is browii, each feather being. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly re
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbr, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
