Spathura scissura (Booted Racket-tail).

From A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds, 6 vols., large folio. Published in London, 1849–1887. Printed by Hullmandel and Walter from drawings by J. Gould, H. C. Richter, and William Hart, lithographed by the artists.

The Booted Racket-tail is a small and exceptionally graceful hummingbird, instantly recognizable by its long tail feathers tipped with rounded disks and the dense white “boots of feathers covering its legs. In Gould’s hand-colored lithograph, the bird is shown poised in flight beside flowering branches, its emerald-green plumage and elongated tail rendered with remarkable precision. The subtle application of metallic pigment gives the feathers their lifelike iridescence, a hallmark of Gould’s technique that brings vitality and movement to the image.

John Gould’s Monograph of the Trochilidae remains one of the most magnificent accomplishments in nineteenth-century ornithological illustration. Created over nearly four decades, the work brought together Gould’s scientific rigor and the artistic talents of Henry Constantine Richter and William Hart. The Booted Racket-tail plate epitomizes the union of observation and artistry that defines the series—an enduring tribute to the beauty, diversity, and delicacy of the hummingbird family.