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T H E MANGO HUMMING BIRD.
TROCHILUS MANGO. LINN.
P L A T E C L X X X I V . MALE AND FEMALE.
I AM indebted to my learned friend the Reverend JOHN BACHMAN
for this species of Humming Bird, of which he received a specimen from
our mutual friend Dr STROBEL, and afterwards presented it to me.
" Hitherto," says he, " it has been supposed that only one species
of Humming Bird (the Trochilus Colubris) ever visits the United States.
Although this is a genus consisting of upwards of a hundred species, all
of which are peculiar to the Continent of America and the adjoining
islands, yet with few exceptions they are confined to the tropics. In those
warm climates, where the Bignonias and other tubular flowers that bloom
throughout the year, and innumerable insects that sport in the sun-shine,
afford an abundance of food, these lively birds are the greatest ornaments
of the gardens and forests. Such in most cases is the brilliancy
of their plumage, that I am unable to find apt objects of comparison unless
I resort to the most brilliant gems and the richest metals. So rapid
is their flight that they seem to outstrip the wind. Almost always on
the wing, we scarcely see them in any other position. Living on the
honeyed sweets of the most beautiful flowers, and the minute insects concealed
in their corollas, they come to us as etherial beings, and it is not
surprising that they should have excited the wonder and admiration of
mankind.
" It affords me great pleasure to introduce to the lovers of Natural
History a second species of Humming Bird as an inhabitant of the United
States. The specimen which is now in my possession, was obtained by
Dr STROBEL at Key West in East Florida. He informed me that he had
succeeded in capturing it from a bush where he had found it seated, apparently
wearied after its long flight across the Gulf of Mexico, probably
from some of the West India Islands, or the coast of South America.
Whether this species is numerous in any part of Florida, I have had no
means of ascertaining. The interior of that territory, as its name indicates,
is the land of flowers, and consequently well suited to the peculiar
habits of this genus; and as it has seldom been visited by ornithologists,
MANGO HUMMING BIRD. 481
it is possible that not only this, but several other species of Humming
Birds, may yet be discovered as inhabitants of our southern country.
" I have not seen the splendid engravings of this genus by Messrs
VIEILLOT and AUDEBERT, in which the Trochilus Mango is said to be
figured ; but from the description contained in LATHAM'S Synopsis and
SHAW'S Zoology, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it an individual of
this species."
The female figures introduced in the plate were taken from a specimen
procured at Charleston ; but whether it had been found in the
United States or not, could not be ascertained.
TROCHILUS MANGO, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 191.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 307-
MANGO HUMMING BIRD, Lath. Synops. vol. ii. p. 758.
•
Adult Male. Plate CLXXXIV. Fig. 1, 2, 3.
Bill long, subulate, depressed at the base, slightly arched, flexible;
upper mandible with the back broad and convex, the sides sloping, the
edges soft; lower mandible with the angle extremely acute, forming a
groove for one-half of its length, the remaining part narrower on the
back, the sides erect; both mandibles deeply channelled internally, nostrils
basal, lateral, linear. Head small, neck short, body short, moderately
robust. Feet very short and feeble ; tarsus very short, roundish;
toes very small, the three anterior united at the base, scutellate above,
compressed, differing little in length; claws small, arched* compressed,
acute.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings long, extremely narrow, falciform,
the first quill longest, the other primaries gradually diminishing in length;
the secondaries extremely short, narrow, and rounded. Tail ample, rather
long, of ten broad rounded feathers, the outer incurvate.
Bill black. Iris brown. Feet dusky. Head, hind-neck and back
splendent with bronze, golden, and green reflections; wings dusky,
viewed in certain lights deep purplish-brown. Middle tail-feathers black,
glossed with green and blue, the rest deep crimson-purple, tipped and
partially margined with steel-blue. Fore part of the neck, and middle of
the breast, velvet-black, margined on each side with emerald-green, the
sides yellowish-green.
Length 4 | inches, extent of wings 8 ; bill 1 ; tarsus *J
.
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