Humming Bird
or HUMBIRD, one of the Trochilidæ, a family of birds, tribe Tenuirostres. The bill is long and slender, the tongue bifid and tubular, the wings very long, the toes long and slender. The plumage of the males is of the most lively colors, often with extremely beautiful metallic reflections; the fe- HUMMING-BIRD BUSH males are of more somber tint. The species are exceedingly diminutive.
They hover over flowers, using their long tongues to lick up, not merely the honey, but also small insects. Their flight is so rapid as to elude the eye. The whole family are peculiar to the New World.
There some have a wide range, as Melisuga kingii (Trochilus flammifrons), which is found on the W. coast from Lima to the Tierra del Fuego, a distance of about 2,500 miles; others are limited in their range, some being West Indian only, and others Mexican.