Habits. The single specimen of this Humming-Bird, referred to by both Mr. Maynard and Mr. Allen[119] as having been taken in Massachusetts, is said to have been shot by Mr. William Brewster in the summer of 1868, in Cambridge, near Mount Auburn. It was secured by accident, and was presumed to be, when taken, a female specimen of Trochilus colubris. It was sent to Mr. Vickary, of Lynn, to be mounted, and the question has been raised if by chance a South American bird may not have been substituted for the original. This, however, Mr. Vickary is positive could not have happened. Nothing distinctive was observed as to its habits. In view, however, of the possibility of an error, the propriety of including it in our fauna is very questionable.
The three families next in order are those generally known as the Zygodactyli, in their more restricted sense, that is, having the toes arranged in pairs, two before and two behind. In the present case the anterior toes are the inner and the middle (the second and third), the posterior being the hinder and outer (the first and fourth); where, as is sometimes the case, a hind toe is wanting, it is the first, or the hind toe proper.
By this definition we exclude the Trogonidæ, the Bucconidæ, and the Galbuilidæ, which likewise have the toes in pairs, but in which they are differently combined.
The North American families, the Cuculidæ, the Picidæ, and the Psittacidæ, are defined as follows:—
A. Upper mandible not movable nor hinged. Tarsus with transverse scutellæ. Bill without a naked skin, or cere, at the base; lower mandible much longer than deep, the end not truncated.
a. Tongue short, and not extensible; not barbed at the point.
Bill hooked or curved at tip; not constructed for hammering. No nasal tufts … Cuculidæ.
b. Tongue long and cylindrical, and generally capable of great extension; barbed at the point.