Volume 3, Plate XXI / Ornithology (Birds)

Black-Capped Humming-Bird

Trochilus polytmus

A native chiefly of Jamaica, this bird measures nine inches, of which the long tail feathers alone are six, with a straw-yellow bill black at the tip, a deep black silky crest, and a female lacking the long feathers and white from chin to vent. The upper parts, breast, and belly are rich golden-green and the throat gorget brilliant emerald-green, the wings brownish-black, the forked tail brownish-black with green reflections, its outer pair shooting far into narrow plumes.