hummer

[Eng. hum; -er.] One who, or that which, hums; a bee; hence, an applauder. "What is more soothing than the pretty hummer That stays one moment in an open flower?" Keats: Sleep and Poetry. hăm-ming, pr . par ., a . & 8. [HUM, v.] A. As pr . par .: (See the verb.) B. As adjective : 1. Making a noise like a bee or other insect; buzzing; making a low, continued droning or murmuring noise. "Humming rivers, by his cabin creeping." P. Fletcher: Piscatory Ecl ., 2. 2. Causing a humming or buzzing in the head; strong; applied to ale. "With humming ale encouraging his text." Dryden: Wife of Bath's Tale , 38. C. 3 subst.: The act of making a hum; a hum. "The humming of bees is an unequal buzzing."-Bacon: Nat . Hist ., 175. chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; sin, as; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = f. The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia humming-bird, hum-bird, s. Ornithology : 1. Sing .: One of the Trochil ide (q. v.). 2. Pl .: Trochil ide, a family of birds, tribe Tenui. rostres. The bill is long and slender, the tongue bifid and tubular, the wings very long, the toes long and slender. The plumage of the males is of the most lively colors, often with extremely beautiful metallic reflections; the females are of more somber tint. The species are exceedingly diminutive. They hover over flowers, using their long tongues to lick up, not merely the honey, but also small insects, Their flight is so rapid as to elude the eye. The whole family are peculiar to the New World. There some have a wide range, as Melisuga kingii ( Tro chilus flamm i frons ), which is found on the west coast from Lima to the Tierra del Fuego, a distance of about 2,500 miles; others are limited in their range, some being West Indian only, and others Mexican. Humming-bird bush: Bot.: Æschynomene monte vid ens is. Humming- bird hawk -moth: Entom.: Macro glo a stell at arum. The forewings are smoky-black with a central black dot, a waved black line on each side of it, and indistinct black clouds toward the base; the hind wings are tawny, with the base blackish-brown, and the hind margin reddish-brown. The body is brownish, varied posteriorly with black and white.