26
The Sword-billed Humming-Bird.
(Genus: Docimastes.)
There are over 400 species of Humming-Bird, all of which are found in N. or S. America or neighbouring islands. They are small, some being under 2 1/2 inches in length. In some species the beak is short and in others long; in some it is straight, in others it has a downward curve which may be slight or deep, and yet in others it is tilted downwards at the tip. The most extreme development of bill is found in the species illustrated, which lives in the Andes, from Venezuela to Peru. The long bill, which in the female bird sometimes reaches 7 inches, is specially developed to extract insects and honey from long tubular flowers.