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The crocodile bird. The crocodile . . . opens his chaps to let the trochil in to pick his teeth, which gives it the usual feeding. Sir T. Herbert.

A division of birds comprising the humming birds.

OF or pertaining to rotary motion; having power to draw out or turn round. "By art trochilic." Camden.

The science of rotary motion, or of wheel work. Wilkins.

One who studies, or is versed in, the nature and habits of humming birds, or the Trochilidæ. Gould.

The crocodile bird, or trochil.

A genus of humming birds. It Formerly included all the known species.

rding to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.; -- called also Nile bird. It is the trochilos of ancient writers. -- Crocodile tears, false or affected tears; hypocritical sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that crocodiles shed tears over their prey.

patch on the neck of a bird or mammal. Gorget hummer (Zoöl.), a humming bird of the genus Trochilus. See Rubythroat.

ummingale, lively or strong ale. Dryden. -- Humming bird (Zoöl.), any bird of the family Trochilidæ, of which over one hundred genera are known, including about four hundred species. They are found only in America and are most abundant in the tropics. They are mostly of very small size, and are not for their very bril…

Any one of numerous species of humming birds belonging to Trochilus, Calypte, Stellula, and allies, in which the male has on the throat a brilliant patch of red feathers having metallic reflections; esp., the common humming bird of the Eastern United States (Trochilus colubris).

hrush. See Veery. -- Willow warbler (Zoöl.), a very small European warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus); -- called also bee bird, haybird, golden wren, pettychaps, sweet William, Tom Thumb, and willow wren.