How very singular and diversified in form are the Humming-Birds of Peru! So varied indeed are they, that almost every species demands a generic appellation; the T. Coræ with its beautiful throat and lengthened tail is the type of the genus Thaumastura.
Of this peculiar form only one species is known, of which the male alone is decorated with fine colours, and bears the singularly constructed tail.
Thaumastura Coræ
Habitat: Peru
Plate 153
Thaumastura Coræ
Cora’s Shear-tail
M. Deville states that this bird is found during the months of February, March, April, and May only, in the humid districts bordering the River Rimac at Lima. It is seen in small troops composed of six or eight couples, which are constantly pursuing one another, and uttering a slight cry. It is very airy in its flight, and rarely permits any other Humming-Bird to remain in its neighbourhood, but wages a continual and terrible war with them.
Featuring all 422 illustrated species from John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds arranged by color.
Humming-Birds