Genus Docimastes Gould

Generic characters.

Male.— Bill of extraordinary length, exceeding that of the head and body, and inclining upwards; wings long and pointed; tail moderately long and forked; tarsi short and partially clothed; feet small; hind toe shorter than the middle toe; face and gorget dull; sides of the chest luminous.

Female.—Unadorned.

• 258.

  Docimastes ensiferus

  Habitat: Columbia and Ecuador

  Plate 233 Docimastes ensiferus Sword-bill

  Specimens from the neighbourhood of Bogota differ from those received from Quito in being of much smaller size; but I consider these as mere races of one and the same species, for I can see no characters on which a specific distinction could be founded.

  • Docimastes Derbyanus, Licht. in Mus. Berlin.
  • Docimastes ensifera, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 77.