Volume 3, Plate III / Ornithology (Birds)

Gigantic Humming-Bird

Trochilus gigas

The largest humming-bird yet discovered, nearly eight inches long and of unusual strength, with dull plumage of brownish-green above and light reddish below, shaded greenish on the flanks, the throat feathers retaining a scaly form though without lustre. Its violet-brown wings slightly exceed the deeply forked tail of ten golden-green feathers, and it inhabits the forests of interior Chili, reaching the country of the Auracanas and the base of the Andes, where it remains very rare.