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A MONOGRAPH

OF

THE TROCHILID SE.

OR

FAMILY OF HUMMING-BIRDS.

YA

JOHN GOULD, F.R.S.,

F.L.S., V.P. AND F.Z.S., M.E.S., F.R.GEOG.S., MMRAY S., CORR. MEMB, OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN; OF THE SOC. OF THE MUSEUM
OF NAT. HIST. OF STRASBOURG; FOR. MEMB, OF THE NAT. HIST. SUC. OF NURNBERG, AND OF THE IMP. NAT. HIST. SOC. OF MOSCOW;
HON. MEMB. OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT; OF THE NAT. HIST. AND THE NAT, HIST. AND MED. SOCS. OF
DRESDEN; OF THE ROY. SOC. OF TASMANIA; OF THE ROY. ZOOL, SOC. OF IRELAND; OF THE PENZANCE
NAT. HIST. SOC.; OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST. SOC.; OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND,

DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST, SOC.; OF THE IPSWICH MUSEUM; OF
THE ORN. SOC. OF GERMANY; OF THE DORSET COUNTY MUSEUM AND
LIBRARY; OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION, ETC.

IN FIVE VOLUMES.

VOL. TE

tO DON:

PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE.

1861.

(THE AUTHOR RESERVES TO HIMSELF THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION.]

 
 
LIST

Eupetomena hirundinacea (misspelt Eupe-
toment hirundinacea)
Campylopterus Pampa
——— lazulus
Delattrei
ensipennis
Villavicencio
latipennis
obscurus
a NUS
= bypenyiunus
? Cuvieri
ae eo ocul
Aphantochroa cirrhochloris
eee Clans
Leucippus fallax
Urochroa Bougueri
Sternoclyta cyaneipectus
Eugenes fulgens
Delattria Clemencize
Lamprolaima Rhami
Delattria Henrica .
a Wieipallens
Heliopedica melanotis
Xantusi
Topaza Pella

 

a Lyra
Oreotrochilus Chimborazo
—- Pichincha
—§—— Estella

7 levcopleurus
=. melanogaster
TE Cla

Lampornis Mango

—— Prevosti .

 

Veraguensis
--_ oramineus
viridis

OF PEATES.

VOL.

66

On wwe o

oe SN SY ST
_~

On a

 

Lampornis aurulentus

 

virginalis
porphyrurus
Eulampis jugularis
holosericeus
chlorolemus
Lafresnaya flavicaudata
Gayi
Doryfera Johanne

 

—— Ludovicie
Hypuroptila Buffoni
urochrysia
ceruleigaster
Tonolaima frontalis.
Schreibersi
Heliodoxa jacula
-———_—— Jamesoni
Otero
Leadbeateri
Trochilus polytmus
Thalurania glaucopis
— Watertoni
furcata

 

= ee eens
—— Tschudi .
7 | Morofasciata

venusta
—— Colombica
7 Veniceps:.
Sy aLe

? Wagleri
Panoplites Jardini
— flavescens
— Matthewsi
Florisuga mellivora
— flabellifera
= aire

 

 

 

Microchera albocoronata

86

94

95

96

OT

98

99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116

 
 
 

 

 

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EUPETOMENA HIRUNDINACEA.

Swallow-tail.

Trochilus macrourus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. 1. p. 487.—Licht. Verz. der Doubl., p. 13.

______ forcipatus, Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. 1. p. 304.

Mellisuga Cayanensis caudd bifured, Rau, 83. 3.—Id. 187. 41.—Willoughby, 166.—Bniss.
Orn., tom. iii. p. 726. pl. xxgvin fie. 9.

Oiseau-mouche a queue d’acier bruni, Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 36.

_____— a queue fourchue de Cayenne, Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 1138.

Cayenne Fork-tailed Humming Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., tom. 1. p. 751.—Shaw, Gen. Hist.,
vol. viii. p. 310.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 299.—Shaw, Nat. Misce., pl. 222.

Ornismya hirundinacea, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., p. 98. pl. 25.—Ib. Supp., p. 179.
pl. 39.—Ib. Traité d’Orn., p. 272.

Polytmus macrourus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 9.

 

Tis species being the most swallow-like member of the entire family of Trochilide, I have in this instance
departed from the rule of priority and adopted the appropriate name of hirundinacea assigned to it by
M. Lesson, instead of retaining the indefinite one of macrourus originally bestowed by Gmelin. From the
little we know of its habits, it seems to be a lowland and fluviatile species rather than a denizen of the moun-
tain districts; its principal habitat, so far as we are at present aware, being the low country of Cayenne and
the delta of the Lower Amazon; it is true we do receive specimens from Bahia, and Mr. Reeves informs
me that it is also found in Minas Geraes ; but it is much less numerous there than in the former locality.
Mr. Wallace tells me that it flies very high, and chiefly resorts to the topmost branches of the loftiest trees ;
is more frequently to be seen in the early morn than at any other period of the day, and that at that hour
it may often be observed perched on the smaller dead branches of the trees skirting the forest.

The sexes are precisely alike in colour ; but at the same time present a great disparity in size, the female
being very much smaller than the male, and having a much shorter tail.

The nestling birds do not differ materially from the adult, being very similar in colour, but of course of a
less brilliant hue.

I find considerable variety in the tint of the head and neck of this species; some specimens having those

parts clothed in a rich glittering prussian blue, while in others they are glossed with green.

Head, neck and breast rich glittering prussian blue; upper surface, upper and under wing-coverts, flanks
and abdomen dark green; across the rump an indistinct band of rufous; wings purplish brown glossed
with steel-blue; upper and under tail-coverts and tail rich deep steel-blue ; a tuft on each side of the body
and the vent white; bill and feet black.

The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size on a beautiful species of Datura, copied

from a drawing obligingly sent to me by T. Reeves, Esq., of Rio-de Janeiro.

 
 

 

 
 

 

(een DHL
ee ee

 

 
 

 

 
CAMPYLOPTERUS PAMPA,

Wedge-tailed Sabre-wing.

Ornismya Pampa, Less. Supp. des Ois. mou., p. 127. pl. 15.—Ib. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 18.

Polytmus pampa, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. 1. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 7.

Campylopterus pampa, Less. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du Genre Trochilus, p. vii—Bonap. Consp.
Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 6.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.

Pampa campyloptera, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.

 

Tuer cuneate form of the tail of this species of Campylopterus renders it very remarkable, not only among
the members of its own genus, but among the Zrochide in general, for there are but few besides the
present bird which display this peculiarity. Were I to be influenced by the form of the tail alone, I might
be induced to constitute it the type of a distinct genus ; but, as I can discover no other character that would
bear me out in so doing, I content myself, for the present at least, by retaining it in the genus to which it
has hitherto been assigned. Dr. Reichenbach has indeed founded one under the name of Pampa for its
reception, but I hesitate, for the reason just given, in adopting it.

The native country of the Campylopterus Pampa is Mexico and Central America; in the former of which
countries specimens were procured by M. De Lattre. I have also received it, through Mr. Skinner, from
Guatemala. In a brief notice of it by M. De Lattre, that gentleman states that it inhabits the densest
forests during the whole of the year; that it is very wild and unsociable; that it is fond of singing ; and
were its song not monotonous it might be regarded as the Nightingale of the Zrochiide. It is found in
the environs of Taupetta, in Mexico.

The sexes, as far as I have seen, are nearly alike in colour, while in size a more than ordinary difference
exists, the female being very much smaller than her mate; both have a blue-coloured crown, but the outer
tail-feathers of the female are tipped with dirty white instead of being of a uniform colour.

The male has the head fine blue; all the upper surface and wing-coverts green; wings purplish brown ;
four central tail-feathers dark bronzy green ; lateral tail-feathers dark bluish black, glossed with bronzy green
at the base; ear-coverts brown ; all the under surface dull greyish white, washed with buff on the throat ;
bill black ; feet brown.

The female is similar in colour, but has the three outer tail-feathers tipped with buffy white.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Neptunia plena.

 
 

 

 
TI

MUAH UT TT)

 

 

 

 

 
LL -

 
 

 

 

 
CAMPYLOPTERUS LAZULUS.

Lazuline Sabre-wing.

Trochilus lazulus, Vieill. Eney. Méth. Om, part 1. p. 557.—Ib. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. p. 296.
pl. 179.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 1.

Trochilus falcatus, Swains. Zool. Ul., vol. ii. pl. 83.—Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., p. 126.
pl. 36.

Mellisuga lazulus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 3.

Campylopterus lazulus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.

Saepiopterus lazulus, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.—Ib. Troch. enumer., p. 9: pls BOCC.
fig. 4863.

 

Ir will be seen that I have followed preceding ornithologists in considering the Zrochilus lazulus of
Vieillot’s “« Galerie des Oiseaux,” and the 7. falcatus of Swainson’s ‘‘ Zoological Illustrations,” as identical ;
at the same time I must remark, that neither of their figures nor the accompanying descriptions are
quite correct; Vieillot figuring and describing the under tail-coverts as white, and Swainson as green,
whereas these feathers are really deep chestnut ; with this exception the two figures agree with the bird
here represented.

It is just possible that the bird described by these authors, and which is still in the Paris Museum, may
be different from the one I have figured, buat, if it be, surely additional examples would have reached Europe
during the long interval which has elapsed since the dispersion of Bullock’s collection, of which the Paris
specimen formed a part.

The native habitat of this fine species—for it is a truly beautiful bird—is the Caraccas, Venezuela, and the
high parts of Columbia generally: many fine examples were brought from the former country by Mr. Dyson,
and numerous specimens are from time to time received in collections from Bogota. As will be seen on
reference to the accompanying Plate, the sexes differ materially in their colouring: the young males, again,
differ from both in presenting an intermediate kind of plumage, with more or less blue on the throat and

under surface.

The male has the head, all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts glittering grass-green ; wings
purplish brown ; tail very deep chestnut, with in some instances all the feathers, and in others only the two
middle ones, broadly tipped with deep green; throat rich deep shining blue, blending into the green of the
upper surface, and the finer glittering green of the flanks and abdomen; under tail-coverts chestnut, slightly
tipped in some instances with green ; bill black.

The female has all the upper surface and wing-coverts bronzy green; rump and upper tail-coverts purer
green ; wings purplish brown ; central tail-feathers bronzy green; the remainder deep chestnut, more or
less margined or fringed with black ; under surface, including the under tail-coverts, deep brownish grey.

The figures are the size of life. The plant is the Cattleyia guttata.

 
 

 

 

 
 

Siudimanded k Walion Lyp

me
* 2 !

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
CAMPYLOPTERUS DELATTREI.

De Lattre’s Sabre-wine.

Ornysmia (Campylopterus) DeLattre, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 14.
Mellisuga De Lattrei, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 113, Mellisuga, sp. 85.
Campylopterus delattre, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 7.
—_—_—_— delatiru, Ib. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.

pate Delattrei, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.

 

Or all the members of the genus Campylopterus, the present is by far the largest and the most beautifully
coloured. It is said to be the boldest species of its race, and to be so extremely pugnacious, that every bird
venturing into the neighbourhood of its territory is furiously attacked and driven away ; this peculiar feature
in the habits of the bird explains the uses of the broad and powerful shafts of the primaries, which form so
conspicuous a character in the males of all the Campylopteri.

The present bird is strictly a Mexican and Central American species. I have lately received from
Mr. Skinner some very beautiful specimens which were procured in Guatemala by M. Riviera Paz, whom I
have had occasion to mention in my account of other species. M. De Lattre, to whom we are indebted for
its discovery, and after whom it has been named, states that, it is found in the forests of Jalapa during two
months of the year only; that it is known by the name of the ‘ Suce fleurs-royal, and that it feeds during
the entire day, and not during any particular hours. He adds that it selects a flowering shrub, which it
never quits, and from which it chases with anger all the other species of the family that may seem
desirous of approaching it: on taking flight it utters a cry.

Considerable difference exists, not only in the size, but in the colouring of the sexes of this species ; the
female being very much less and very plainly coloured when compared with the male, and destitute of the
dilatations of the shafts of the primaries.

The male has the lores, forehead and crown dull bluish black ; behind the eye a small spot of white; all
the upper and under surface rich deep violet-blue ; wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts green, into
which the blue of the upper surface blends ; wings dark purplish brown; tail steel-black, the three outer
feathers on each side largely tipped with white, slightly margined in some specimens with black ; vent
greyish white ; under tail-coverts steel-black, glossed with green ; bill black ; feet dark brown.

The female has the head dark bronzy brown ; all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts and flanks
g-coverts ; two centre tail-feathers
glossed with green for two-thirds of their length from the base ; down the centre of the throat a mark of

brilliant green, glossed with golden on the back of the neck and win

shining greenish blue ; remainder of the under surface grey, glossed with green.
The figures represent an adult male, a young male and a female of the size of life. The beautiful flower,
which is also indigenous to Guatemala, is the Lela majalis.

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

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CAMPYLOPTERUS ENSIPENNIS, Swains.

Blue-throated Sabre-wing.

Trochilus ensipennis, Swains. Zool. Ill., vol. ii. pl. 107.—Less. Les Troch., pp. 124, 127.
pls. 46, 47.

Campylopterus ensipennis, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., pp. xlii, 124. pl. 35.—Ib. Traité
d’Orn., p. 287.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du gen. Trochilus, p. vi.—Bonap.
Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 3.-_-Heiet. Autz. der Gol.,. p. 1E-——
Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.—Jardine, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.,
vol. xx. 1847, p. 372.

Polytmus ensipennis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 2.

 

Tur Campylopterus ensipennis is one of the most powerful species of the genus. The boldness of its
markings and the brightness of its colouring render it also one of the most beautiful. Although the female
is not so brightly coloured as her mate, she assimilates more closely to him in her dress than do the females
of the other brilliantly coloured species to theirs ; she is, however, somewhat smaller, and has the blue
of the throat less conspicuous, and separated from the sides of the face by a white stripe which passes from
the base of the bill to beneath the eye.

The West Indian Islands appear to be the native habitat of this fine species: in all probability it also
visits some parts of the South American continent, but this has not yet been positively ascertained.

The following extract from Mr. Kirk’s notes on the birds of the island of Tobago, published by Sir
William Jardine, Bart., in the twentieth volume of the “ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” above
referred to, comprises all that is at present known respecting this fine bird :—

«« Feeds on ants, small flies and sweets, and is particularly fond of the blossoms of the wild and common
plantain tree; but whether from the circumstance that these blossoms are generally attended by numerous
herds of ants, which form the principal part of its food, or for the purpose of extracting sweets, or
perhaps both, I am unable to determine ; but in all I have dissected, I have found the stomach to contain

ants and portions of small gnats. It is found principally in the woods, by rivulets and in low marshy

places.”

The male has the head, all the upper surface, wing-coverts, sides of the neck, under surface of the body
and under tail-coverts deep shining golden-green, passing into grass-green on the upper tail-coverts, and
particularly glittering on the nape and back of the neck; wings purplish-brown ; chin and throat deep
lazuline-blue ; two centre tail-feathers greenish-bronze, the next on each side dark steel-blue; the three
outer on each side steel-blue at the base, the apical two-thirds being pure white ; bill black ; feet dark
brown.

The female differs in having the blue on the throat less extensive, and separated from the green of the
sides of the face by a streak of greyish-white ; the centre of the abdomen is also grey.

Like the males of other members of the genus, the very old male of this species has the shaft of the outer
primaries very much dilated, which we may suppose adds considerably to its wing-powers.

The Plate represents the birds of the natural size. The plant is the Dipladenia Harrisiv.

 
 

 

 
 

 

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CAMPYLOPTERUS VILLAVICENCIO.

Villavicencio’s Sabre-wing.

Trochilus Villaviscensio, Boure. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. des Sci., tom. xxxu. p. 187.
Heliomaster Villaviscensio, Reich. Auf. der Col., p. 13.
Heliomastes villavisencio, Bonap. Rev. Zool. 1854, p. 251.

Campylopterus splendens, Lawr. in Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. vi. p. 262°.

 

Tur Campyopterus Villavicencio was first described by M. Bourcier, from a specimen obtained by him during
his sojourn in Ecuador, and named in honour of a gentleman attached to the study of natural history
resident in that country. A single specimen is also contained in the Loddigesian collection. Both these
examples appear to be females, and assimilate so closely in size and in some parts of their colouring to the
bird lately named C. splendens by Mr. G. N. Lawrence of New York, that I am induced to believe them to be
so many examples of one and the same species. I do not, however, insist upon such being the case, and
therefore only place them together provisionally. In the length and form of the bill, in the general colouring
of the tail and of the upper and under surface, they are precisely similar; the only observable difference
being, that Mr. Lawrence’s specimen has a splendid deep-blue throat-mark, which is entirely absent in
M. Bourcier’s and the Loddigesian examples. As both sexes of some other species of the Campylopteri are
very sombrely coloured, it is just possible that Mr. Lawrence’s bird may prove to be distinct, in which case
his name of splendens may be restored, and retained for the bird represented in the upper figure on the
accompanying Plate, and that of /7lavicencio for the lower one. Mr. Lawrence’s example was procured by
Mr. Wm. E. Moore, between the head waters of the Napo and Quito, the same locality in which the other

specimens were obtained.

The following is a description of M. Bourcier’s specimen :—

Crown of the head metallic golden green; upper surface, wing-coverts and flanks dark golden green ;
wings purplish brown; two centre tail-feathers dark green, the remainder steel-blue, the two outer ones
tipped, and the others slightly fringed with greyish white at the tip; all the under surface ashy grey ;
bill black ; feet brown.

Mr. Lawrence’s specimen differs in having a gorget of rich deep metallic blue on the throat, and in the
lateral tail-feathers being merely fringed instead of tipped with greyish white.

The Plate represents the two birds of the natural size. The plant is the Gualtheria bracteata.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
—

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CAMPYLOPTERUS LATIPENNIS.

Broad-shafted Sabre-wing.

Trochilus campylopterus, Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 499.—Valenc. Dict. Sci. Nat., tom. xxxv. p. 492.—Drap.
Dic. Class. Sci. Nat., tom. iv. p. 325.

—_— cinereus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 490.

—_—— largipennis, Bodd.
— latipennis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 310.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p. 365.—Swains. Zool.

Ill. vol. iii. pls. 130, 131.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Hum.-Birds, vol. i. p. 146.—Vieill. et Bonn. Ency. Méth.Orn.,
2™¢ partie, p. 566.

L’ Oiseau-mouche a larges tuyaux, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p.35.—Aud. et Vieill. Ois.dor., tom. i. p. 51, pl. 21.

L’ Oiseau-mouche a larges tuyaux de Cayenne, Buff. Pl. Enl. 672. fig. 2.

Polytmus largipennis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 1.

Broad-shafted Humming- Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 765.—Id. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 321.

Ornismya latipennis, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou. p. 121, pl. 34.—Id. Tab. des Esp. des Ois. Mou., p. xlii.

Campylopterus latipennis, Swains. Zool. Journ. vol. ii. p. 358.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Hum.-Birds, vol. i. pl. 34.—Bonap.
Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 1.—Less. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du gen. Trochilus, p. v.
—Reichenb. Auf. der Col., p. 11.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 250.

Trochilus cinereus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 308.

Colibri a ventre cendre, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 18. pl. 5.

Ash-bellied Humming- Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 759.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vill. p. 297.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,
vol. iv. p. 316.

Le Colibri a ventre cendré, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 18, pl. 5 ?

 

Tur Campylopterus latipennis is one of the very earliest-known species of Humming-Bird ; a glance at the
long list of names by which it has been described in the works of Linnzus, Boddaert, Gmelin, Latham,
Buffon, &¢., will at once induce the reader to come to such a conclusion. Long known, however, as the
species has been, no reliable information has been transmitted to us as to its habits and economy, or the
specific purpose for which the broad shafts of the wings have been designed. They doubtless aid the bird
in cleaving the air with great rapidity, but they perhaps have some other especial use, though what that
may be cannot be easily imagined, since they do not occur in the females, and are only to be found in the
very old males. If we wish to see this bird in a state of nature, a journey to Cayenne and French Guiana
will enable us to attain the object of our desire, as it is in those countries, particularly Cayenne, that
the specimens sent to Europe are collected. Of these the greater part are of course sent to Paris, whence
they find their way to this country.

I believe I have still another species of this form from Ecuador, intermediate between C. /atipennis and
C. obscurus ; but of this more at some other time, when additional specimens have arrived ; at present I have
only seen the one which graces my collection. This bird is certainly not the female of either of the above-
mentioned species; it has longer wings than either of them, and, moreover, differs in the extent of the
white tipping of the outer tail-feathers.

Of the three or four known species of grey-breasted Campylopteri, the present has by far the greatest
amount of white at the tips of the lateral tail-feathers.

I believe that no difference exists in the colouring of the sexes of the Campylopterus latipennis, and that
the dilated shafts of the outer wing-feathers is the only tangible character by which the sexes can be
distinguished.

Modern research has discovered that the earliest specific appellation assigned to this bird is that of
largipennis, given to it by Boddaert ; by that name, however, it is known to but few, while that of datipennis
is just as familiar. I have therefore in this instance deviated from the law of priority, and adopted the

term which is most generally applied to it.

Head, all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts, sides of the neck, and flanks deep oil-green ; wings
dark purplish brown ; two centre tail-feathers dark green; the next on each side black, washed with green
at the base, and slightly tipped with whitish ; the remainder black, largely tipped with white; all the under
surface dark grey; bill black.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Odontoglossum hastilabium, var. fuscatum.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
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CAMPYLOPTERUS OBSCURUS, Gowa.

Sombre Sabre-wine.

Campylopterus obscurus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1848, p. 13.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus,
sp. 2.—Reichenb. Auf. der Col., p. 11.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1854, p. 250.
Polytmus obscurus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii., appendix, p. 5, app. to p. 108.

 

Hap we not sufficient evidence to the contrary (evidence which has been admitted by many ornithologists),
it might be supposed that the Campylopterus obscurus and C. latipennis were one and the same species, so
similar are they in size and in the colouring of their bodies. When we compare their tails, however, a
great difference is seen in the extent of the white on the outer feathers—a character very conspicuous in the
other Campyloptert, but which is nearly obsolete in this species. I possess one male in which the two outer
feathers are very slightly tipped with grey; and no trace of it appears on the third. The whole tail, too, is
shorter and rounder than that of C. /atipennis ; there is more green on the upper surface of the four middle
tail-feathers, and those feathers are broad, and, as well as the rest, very round at the tip.

It will naturally be asked, ‘‘ What is the native country of this species?” but, in the present state of our
knowledge, that is a question not easily answered. All that I know on the subject is, that the specimens I
possess were received from the Amazon; but from what part of the banks of that mighty river, I am unable
to say; probably the bird is a denizen of the vast forests which cover the alluvial flats, and the islands
near its embouchure between the city of Para and the sea.

The feature which distinguishes the sexes of this species is, as in C. latipennnis, the broadly developed
shafts of the outer wing-feathers of the male.

Crown of the head, all the upper surface, and the four middle tail-feathers green; throat and under surface
dark grey; flanks and under tail-coverts washed with green; the three lateral tail-feathers on each side
black, slightly tipped with grey; bill black.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Pass¢fora tinifolia.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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CAMPYLOPTERUS RUFUS, Less.

Fawn-breasted Sabre-wing.

Campylopterus rufus, Less. in Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 73.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71,
Campylopterus, sp. 4.
Polytmus rufus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 5.

 

Tue first notice of this species of Campylopterus occurs in the ‘ Revue Zoologique” for 1840, where it was
described by M. Lesson, under the above appellation, from specimens contributed by MM. Longuemare
and Parzudaki; neither of those gentlemen, however, have given any account of its habits, nor do they
even mention the locality the bird frequents. The fine examples of both sexes which grace my own col-
lection were sent to me by Don Constancia, direct from Guatemala: we may infer, therefore, that that
part of the continent is its true habitat.

In colour the two sexes are as similar as they can be; but the more rounded form of the wing and the
great dilatation of its first three primaries at once distinguish the male.

The young males of the first, and probably of the second year, assimilate so closely to the opposite sex
in the form of their wings, that they cannot be recognized with certainty.

As the insect food of Humming-Birds is sought for among the most varied plants, and not a flower of
the forest is left unvisited, I have figured this species on one of the Guatemala Orchids, which is far too

conspicuous to escape its notice, the Cycnoches barbatum.

Head and all the upper surface bronzy green; wings purple-brown; two centre tail-feathers bronzy
green, the bronzy hue predominating towards the tip; the next on each side rufous at the base, then
bronzy green, the bronzy hue predominating and deepening into brownish black near the extremity,
where it is slightly tipped with buff; the next on each side rufous at the base, then bronze, to which
succeeds a broad band of dull black, and finally it is tipped with buff; the two lateral feathers reddish buff,
the outer one crossed on the inner web, and the second on both webs near the tip with an irregular bar of
bluish black; all the under surface buff or fawn-colour; bill black, with the exception of the base of the
lower mandible, which as well as the feet is fleshy brown.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the size of life.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
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CAMPYLOPTERUS HYPERYTHRUS, Cab.

Rufous-breasted Sabre-wing.

Campylopterus hyperythrus, Cabanis in Rich. Schomb. Reisen in Brit. Guiana, 1848, vol. in.
p- 709, No. 202.

Takui, of the Arekuna Indians, Schomb.

 

We are indebted to the researches of the Chevalier Schomburgk for the discovery of this new species of

 

Campylopterus, of which the single specimen he procured—an adult male—now graces the collection of the
Museum at Berlin; and I would here beg to record my thanks to Dr. Lichtenstein, the Director of that
Institution, for his kindness in permitting this rare bird to be removed to London, for the purpose of its
being described and figured in the present work. It was discovered on the Roraima Mountains, in the
interior of Guiana, at an elevation of 6000 feet above the level of the sea, where it was busily engaged in
procuring its food among the flowering bushes of Mimosa, and other plants of that region. It is a stout
thick-set species, with a much shorter bill and wings than the Campylopterus rufus ; has the colouring of the
under surface of a much darker hue than in that species; the four central tail-feathers more golden, and
the three lateral feathers on each side uniform rufous, without a trace of the black bar so conspicuous in

its near ally.

Head, upper surface, and wing-coverts bronzy green; four central tail-feathers golden bronze, both on
their upper and under surface; three lateral feathers on each side uniform rufous ; wings purplish brown ;
all the under surface dark rust-red ; bill black, except the basal half of the under mandible, which is fleshy
brown; feet dark brown.

The figures are of the natural size, on a beautiful Chora, copied from an unpublished drawing made in
Guiana.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
CAMPYLOPTERUS CUVIERIL.

Cuvier’s Sabre-wing.

Trochilus Cuvierii, De Latt. et Boure. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 310.

Polytmus Cuvieri, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 8.

Campylopterus cuvieri, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 9 —Reichenb. Troch.
enumer., p. 9. pl. pcecciv. fig. 4871.

Aphantochroa Cuvieri, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris,

~

pe iz.

 

In naming this species of Humming Bird after the late Baron Cuvier, I am certain that MM. Bourcier and
De Lattre felt assured that they could not add to the fame of that highly gifted and celebrated naturalist.
France may indeed be proud of so great a man ; and I must confess that I should have been much better
pleased if some finer species of this fine family of birds had been selected for dedication to his memory ;
still, although it is one of the most plainly coloured species of the whole of the Trochilide, it plays a part
in the economy of nature quite equal to that of the most elittering and gaily attired, and is none the
less important or interesting because of its lesser degree of adornment.

All that we know respecting this species is, that it inhabits the northern parts of Columbia, the Caraccas,
the Isthmus of Panama, and Veragua ; and that the sexes and the young birds from the nest are all attired
in a precisely similar style of plumage; in proof of which I may mention, that a little fledgeling I possess,
taken from a nest near David in Veragua, is exactly of the same colour as a fully adult male. This latter
specimen has the shaft of the first primary considerably dilated, showing clearly the group to which it
belongs: its dull colouring and the large white tipping of its outer tail-feathers, too, are in unison with
several others of the Campylopteri, such as C. longipennis, C. obscurus, &¢. These modestly coloured species
form a section which some Trochilidist may hereafter be induced to separate generically from the more gaily
adorned C. Delattrei, C. lazulus, &c., but for the present I should prefer to retain them all in the same

genus.

Crown of the head brownish green ; all the upper surface and wing-coverts bronzy green ; wings dark
purplish brown ; two centre tail-feathers greenish bronze, the remainder greenish bronze at the base, passing
into greenish black, and tipped with white, the extent of the white increasing as the feathers recede from
the centre ones; under surface dull bronzy green, each feather fringed with grey ; centre of the abdomen
washed with buff; under tail-coverts brown, broadly fringed with white ; upper mandible dark brown; the
under mandible appears to have been flesh-coloured ; feet fleshy brown.

The figures are the size of life.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

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CAMPYLOPTERUS ROBERTI.

Owen’s Sabre-wing.

Alphantochroa Roberti, Saly. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxix. p. 203.

 

[ wave great pleasure in figuring a bird which, I am certain, is quite new to science. _ It was collected in the
Vera Paz mountains of Central America by Mr. Robert Owen, after whom it has been named by Mr. Salvin.
In point of affinity it is more nearly allied to the bird known to ornithologists as the Campylopterus Cuvieri
than to any other; but it differs from it in many particulars, all purely specific, for in point of form the two
birds are precisely similar. In size it is rather the smallest ; both its mandibles are black instead of being
lighter beneath ; and the plumage of the body is more lustrous; but the greatest difference occurs in
the colouring of the middle portion of the two outer tail-feathers, that part being black instead of dark
green; there is also a less amount of white on the tips of those feathers. The shaft of the first primary
is slightly dilated,—a circumstance which shows that this species, as well as the C. Cuvieri, for which I have
proposed the generic name of Phgochroa in the ‘ Introduction,’ are closely allied to the Campylopteri.

Head and all the upper surface bronzy green; throat, chest, and flanks bronzy green; centre of the
abdomen mottled bronzy green and greyish white; under tail-coverts olive-green fringed with greyish
white; two centre tail-feathers bronzy green slightly tipped with bluish black ; the two next on each side
bronzy, more largely tipped with bluish black ; the extreme base of the two lateral feathers bronzy green, to
which succeeds a broad zone of black, and the tips white; wings purplish brown ; bill and feet black.

The figures are of the natural size, or, if anything, rather less. The plant is the Echeveria canaliculata.

=)?

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
APHANTOCHROA CIRRHOCHLORIS.

Sombre Humming-Bird.

Trochilus cirrochloris, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. 2nde Edit., tom. xxii. p. 430.—lIb.
Eney. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 560.

Ornismya simplex, Less. Hist. Nat. des Otis. Mou., p. 119. pl. 33.—Ib. Hist. Nat. des Col.,
p- 111.—Supp. des Ois. Mou., pl. 6.

Polytmus cirrochloris, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 107, Polytmus, sp. 4.

Trochilus campylostylus, Licht. Verz. der Doubl., p. 14.

Campylopterus cirrhochloris, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Campylopterus, sp. 8.

 

Wuize the greater number of the Trochilide are characterized by a splendid style of plumage, there are
others, as will be seen on reference to the present Plate, in which these features are wanting; to most
persons these sombre-coloured birds will be less pleasing than their more gaily attired congeners, but
they are equally interesting in the eyes of the naturalist. In its general structure, this simply attired
bird, which I believe is never adorned with any luminous colouring, offers a considerable alliance to the
Campylopteri; but as the peculiar dilatation of the shafts of the outer primaries is entirely absent, I have
separated it from a group of which I formerly considered it a member, and have made it the type of a new
genus—z {phantochroa.

I have received numerous examples from various parts of Brazil, Pernambuco, Bahia, and the neighbour-
hood of Rio de Janeiro, where Mr. Reeves states it is very common, and where it evinces a great predilection
for the flowers of the Banana.

As I have not been able satisfactorily to distinguish the one sex from the other, I am led to believe that

they do not differ externally.

Head and all the upper surface dark grass-green ;_ wings purplish brown ; tail dark purple-brown, glossed
with bronze, especially on the two central feathers ; throat and breast grey, glossed with green ; abdomen
greyish brown, crossed just above the vent by a band of white; bill black; feet olive-yellow.

In some specimens the upper surface is bronzy green ; the tail of a darker purple, and the under surface
of an olive-green, instead of grey glossed with green.

The figures are of the natural size.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
APHANTOCHROA GULARIS, Gow.

Puce-throated Humming-Bird.

Aphantochroa ? gularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 310.

 

Ir this bird had not a small patch of luminous colour on the throat, white under tail-coverts, and a some-
what more lengthened bill, it would so closely resemble the Aphantochroa cirrhochloris that one might almost
be induced to believe it to be identical with that species. There can be no doubt, however, that the two
birds are specifically distinct ; indeed, I have for a long time entertained a belief that the bird here repre-
sented should not only be generically separated from that species, but from every other known Humming-
Bird. The single individual which graces my own collection is the only one that has ever come under my
notice ; it was procured in the neighbourhood of the river Napo; and when the vast forests bordering that
river have been more minutely explored, other specimens will doubtless be discovered, and we shall then
be in possession of materials which will enable us to come to a more just conclusion respecting it than we
can with that we at present possess.

The luminous mark on the throat reminds us of a similar feature in Phaiolaima rubinoides and P. diqua-
torialis ; but the tails of those species are very different from that of the subject of the present memoir, both
in size and colouring.

Crown shining grass-green; back of the neck, shoulders, back, upper tail-coverts, and two centre tail-
feathers deep grass-green ; under surface of the body grass-green, with the exception of a glittering patch
of lilac on the throat and centre of the abdomen, and the thighs and under tail-coverts, which are white ;
primaries purplish brown; four outer tail-feathers on each side purplish green; bill slightly curved and
black, with the exception of the base of the under mandible, which appears to have been flesh-colour.

The accompanying Plate gives a very correct representation of this rare species, of the size of life. The
plant (Leucothoé pulchra) is from the same country ; but I am not sure that the bird and the plant are ever

in such close juxtaposition as I have represented them.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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LEUCIPPUS FALLAX.

Buff-breasted Leucippus.

Trochilus fallax, Boure. Rey. Zool. 1843, p. 103.—Ib. Ann. de la Soc. Sci. de Lyons, 18438,
p: 44.

Trochilus (Lampornis ?) fulviventris, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xiv. p. 88.

Polytmus fallax, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 55.

Leucippus fallax, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 73, Leucippus, sp. 1.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Coli-
bris, p. 11.—Ib. Troch. enumer., p. 8. pl. pccLxxx1u1. figs. 4820, 4821.

Doleromyia fallax, Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 249.

 

Tuere is but little in this species to attract attention, nevertheless to the Trochilidist it is not destitute
of interest. The uniformity of the buffy hue of its under surface is a feature rarely occurring among
Humming Birds.

The Leucippus fallax may be considered rare, since but few specimens are to be found either in the
collections of England or in those of the Continent. For those contained in my own I am indebted to
Mr. Dyson, who procured them in Venezuela. They offer no difference whatever either in size or colouring,
and in all probability it will be found that there is no outward distinction between the sexes, and that the
adult livery is assumed at a very early age; for among the specimens I possess is a half-fledged nestling,

which has already acquired the plumage of the adult.

Head olive-brown tinged with green; upper surface and wing-coverts green; wings dark purplish brown ;
four centre tail-feathers bronzy green; lateral feathers bronzy green at the base, passing into black and
largely tipped with white, the white increasing in extent as the feathers recede from the centre ; throat, breast
and abdomen deep buff; under tail-coverts white ; upper mandible, and point of the lower, black ; remainder
of the under mandible either pale yellow or flesh-colour.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Dictyanthus Pavonit.

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UROCHROA BOUGUERI.

Pied-tail.

Trochilus Bougueri, Boure. Compte rend. de Acad. des Sci., tom. xxxii. p. 186.
Celigena bougueri, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 252.

Coeligena Bouguieri, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 7.—Ib. Troch. enumer., p. 3.

 

Tue discovery of this new and very remarkable Humming Bird is due to the researches of M. Bourcier,
who, during his late visit to Ecuador, obtained many new species and much valuable information respecting
the Trochilide. The present is certainly not among the least important of these discoveries, the bird being
of large size and possessing several characters peculiar to itself; at the same time, it must be admitted that
‘ts colours are not so contrasted or lustrous as those of some of its congeners. Its general contour and the
form of its bill and wings rendering it impossible to associate it with the members of any previously
established genus, and the colouring of its tail—black, interspersed with white

 

presenting a character
quite unique; I have been induced to constitute it the type of a new genus, the propriety of which must
be determined by time and further research, which will probably reveal to us other species of the form ; for
it must be recollected that our knowledge of the productions of the great primeval forests of Southern
America is even yet very imperfect, although each succeeding year has for some time past made us more
and more acquainted with them.

Both Sir William Jardine and myself have received specimens of this bird from Professor Jameson,
whose researches in the forests round Quito have so frequently been attended with satisfactory results.
M. Bourcier’s specimens were obtained in the great woods of the hot regions of Nanégan.

Lores reddish brown ; space under the eye, forehead, all the upper surface and upper tail-coverts dark
coppery bronze, with a tinge of green on the greater wing-coverts, and becoming of a brighter or more
coppery hue on the upper tail-coverts ; wings dark purple ; two centre and the outer tail-feather on each
side purplish black ; the remaining tail-feathers white, broadly margined externally, and very slightly fringed
on the apical portion of their inner webs with purplish black ; throat shining greenish blue, passing into
grass-green on the sides of the neck ; all the under surface dark olive, glossed with grass-green.

The figures are the size of life. The plant is the Ceratostema longiflorum.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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a —

 
STERNOCLYTA CYANEIPECTUS.

Blue-breast.

Trochilus (Lampornis) cyanopectus, Gould in Proce. of Zool. Soc., part xiv. p. 88.
Sternoclyta cyanopectus, Gould, MS. 1851.

Campylopterus cyanipectus, Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.
Lampornis cyanopectus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. iy

Saepiopterus cyanipectus, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col., p. 11.

 

Tue merit of discovering this new species of Humming-bird is due to the late Mr. David Dyson, who formerly
travelled in Honduras and Cumana, where, it is believed, this ardent lover of nature contracted the
disease from which he never recovered, and which, to the regret of all who knew him, carried him off in the
prime of life.

The bird in question was killed by Mr. Dyson on the 25th of April, 1846, on the cocoa-plantation of
Neiguata, near Camburi Grande, in the province of La Guayra. Although twelve years have since elapsed,
no other examples have been collected, probably in consequence of the species being very local, and no other
traveller having visited the district in which it flies.

The Sternoclyta cyaneipectus is rendered remarkably conspicuous both by its bold style of colouring and
by the large size of its bill, and differs so much in form from all the other members of the family, that I
have been induced to make it the type of a new genus, for to none of those previously proposed could it be
assigned.

Mr. Dyson noticed that the specimens procured by him were collecting their insect food from the flowers

of the Cocoa-tree, and mentions that the bird was very rare, as he did not meet with it more than once or

twice.

Throat luminous metallic green; centre of the breast brilliant metallic blue, separated from the green by
a line of black; head, back, shoulders, flanks and lower part of the abdomen bronzy green; wings purplish
brown, the base of the innermost primaries and the secondaries rusty red; tail bronzy brown, the three
outer feathers slightly tipped with white ; thighs white ; bill and feet blackish brown.

The female generally resembles the male, but the green of the throat and blue of the breast are wholly
wanting, those parts being grey, slightly spangled with dull green.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Aphelandra variegata.

 

 

 

 

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EUGENES FULGENS.
The Rivoli.

Trochilus fulgens, Swains. Phil. Mag. 1827, p. 441.

Ornismya Rivolii, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., p. 48. pl. 4.

Trochilus Rivolii, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds, vol. ii. p. 96. pl. 18.

Mellisuga fulgens, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 2.

Delattria fulgens, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 70, Delattria, sp. 4.

Celigena fulgens, Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 252.

Coeligena fulgens, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 7—Ib. Troch. enumer., p. 3. pl. DCLXxxvVI.
figs. 4513, 4514.

 

Tuts well-known Mexican species, so celebrated for the beauty of its colouring, and the bold style of its
markings, enjoys a very wide range of habitat, extending from the latitude of Jalapa in Mexico to the city
of Guatemala; but only frequents high table-lands, such as those of Jalapa and Temiscaltepec. This fine
bird was described by Swainson under the specific appellation of fugens some years prior to that of zvol
assigned to it by M. Lesson, in honour of M. Massena, Prince of Essling and Duke of Rivoli.

It is to be regretted that nothing has yet been recorded respecting its habits and economy, or the
particular plants among which it seeks its food.

In its general contour and in some of its markings it bears a close resemblance to the members of the
genus Oreotrochilus, but the straighter and more lengthened form of its bill prevents me from placing it in
that group.

The sexes, as is usual with many other groups of Humming Birds, offer a very decided difference in their
colouring, the female being entirely destitute of the lovely hues which adorn the head and throat of the

male.
Fine examples of this species, collected by M. Rivera Paz, have been forwarded to me by Mr. Skinner.

The male has the forehead and crown of a rich violet-blue ; chin, throat, and sides of the neck, luminous
grass-green ; all the upper surface, wing-coverts, breast, and abdomen bronzy green ; the back of the neck
and breast appearing black when viewed in front; wings purplish brown; two central tail-feathers bronzy
green, the remainder brownish bronze, with a wash of bronzy green at the base and at the tip; under tail-
coverts olive-grey, fringed with greyish white.

In the young male the forehead is grey, with a few brilliant bluish-green feathers appearing on the crown ;
upper surface and wing-coverts as in the adult ; wings purplish brown ; tail darker, and the lateral feathers
crossed with a broad mark of dark brown and tipped with grey; under surface greyish brown, with a few of
the bright grass-green feathers on the throat.

In the female the crown of the head is brown; upper surface, wings, and tail as in the young male, but
the lateral tail-feathers more largely tipped with greyish white ; all the under surface greyish brown, washed
with green on the flanks, and with the centre of the throat-feathers tinged with reddish ; before the eye,
but below the lores, a small patch of white, and behind the eye another white mark curving down posterior
to the ear-coverts.

The figures and plant are of the natural size ; the latter is the Anguloa uniflora.

 

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DELATTRIA CLEMENCI&.

Blue-throated Cazique.

Ornismya Clemencie, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. mou., pp: xlv et 216. pl. 80.—Ib. Supp. des Ois.
mou., p. 115. pl. 8.

Lampornis Clemencie, Less. 'Traité d’Orn., p- 279.

Celigena Clemencia, Less. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du Genre Trochilus, p. xviii

Mellisuga Clemencia, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 16.

Delattria clemenciae, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 70, Delattria, sp. 3.

Lampornis clemencia, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.

Coeligena Clemenciae, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 7.

 

I pevieve the true and restricted habitat of Delattria Clemencie to be the moderately high table-land of

Mexico. It is a large and powerful bird, and is distinguished for the quietness of its colouring, rather than
for any of those brilliant metallic markings so prevalent among Humming Birds in general. M. Lesson has
J 5 I 5 5 5
figured both sexes in his volumes on this group of birds, but unfortunately has not given any details as to
8 rut : § )
their habits and economy ; this omission is the more to be regretted as it leaves me in doubt as to the pro-
priety of placing the bird in the genus Dedattria ; for, although it has not their broad shafted primaries, in
its general colour and markings it approaches so closely to the members of the genus Campylopterus, that it
becomes a question to which of the two groups it should be referred ; future research, then, must determine
its true situation.
The sexes differ in the blue throat-mark of the male being entirely wanting in the opposite sex.
5 J 5

The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, wing-coverts and flanks dull golden green,
changing into bronzy brown on the lower part of the back ; behind the eye a semi-crescentic mark of white ;
throat beautiful azure-blue ; under surface ashy grey; under tail-coverts greenish grey, bordered with white ;
wings purplish brown; upper tail-coverts and tail purplish black, the two lateral feathers on each side
largely tipped with white ; bill brownish black ; feet brown.

The female is very similar in colour to the male, but has no blue on the throat, that part, like the under
surface, being grey.

The figures represent two males and a female, of the size of life. The plant is the Addenocalymna

comosum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LAMPROLAIMA RHAMLI.

De Rham’s Garnet.

Ornismya Rhami, Less. Rey. Zool. 1838, p. 315.

Ornismia Rhami, De Latt. et Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 13.

Mellisuga Rhami, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 24.
Lampornis rhami, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. 13.

Delattria rhami, Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 253.

Lamprolaima Rhami, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p- 9.

Helhodoxa Rhami, Reichenb. Troch. enumer., p. 6. pl. pecx v1. figs. 4712, 4713.

 

Tue information I have been able to obtain from various sources respecting this fine species enables me to
state that it inhabits the temperate regions of Guatemala and Mexico, and that it neither frequents the high
mountain ranges nor the hot forests of the lower lands, but dwells in a country of perpetual spring, with a
temperature similar to our own at midsummer, and where the Trochilide are unsurpassed in beauty by
those of any other part of the world.

M. Rafael Montes de Oca informs me that this fine bird is occasionally met with in the neighbourhood of
Jalapa, and M. Auguste Sallé collected numerous examples of both sexes near Cordova.

For our first knowledge of this species we are indebted to the researches of M. Bourcier, by whom
specimens were transmitted to M. Lesson, who described it in the ‘‘ Revue Zoologique” for 1838, under the
specific appellation of Rhami, in honour of M. de Rham of New York. “This Humming Bird,” says
M. Lesson, ‘‘ which is rare even in its native country, inhabits the thickest forests, procures its food from
the flowers of a species of Loranthus, a parasitic plant found on the highest branches of the loftiest trees,
and evinces a preference for situations of moderate temperature.”

The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, lesser wing-coverts, and upper tail-coverts
deep grass-green ; greater wing-coverts, secondaries, and the basal two-thirds of the primaries dark chestnut-
red, the tips of the secondaries and the apical third of the primaries dark purplish brown; on the chin and
centre of the throat, an oblong mark of fine metallic amethystine-red, bounded on each side by a stripe of
black, the whole surrounded by a broad mark of deep metallic-blue ; under surface of the body and under
tail-coverts dark brown ; tail very dark purple ; bill and feet blackish brown.

In immature males the central throat-mark is surrounded by bluish green, instead of the fine blue which
forms so conspicuous a feature in the adult.

The female differs in being destitute of the rich markings on the throat, the whole of her under surface
being light greyish brown, with a somewhat darker hue near the tip of the breast-feathers ; the red of the
wings is less extensive, and the outer tail-feathers are tipped with grey.

The figures are the size of life. The plant is the Galeandra Baueri.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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DELATTRIA HENRICL.
Henry De Lattre’s Cazique.
Ornysmia Henrica, Less. et De Latt. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. Ef.
Topaza Henrica, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 110, Topaza, sp. 9.

Delattria henrica, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 70, Delattria, sp. 1.

henrici, Bonap. Consp. Troch. in Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 2538.

 

Tus species was first made known to science in the ‘“ Revue Zoologique ” for 1839, by MM. Lesson and
De Lattre, and was by them dedicated to M. Henri De Lattre, the brother of the latter.

Guatemala, if not the exclusive habitat of this species, is certainly the locality in which it is found in the
greatest avundance. The specimens in my collection, and all others that I have seen, have been sent direct
from the city of Guatemala, by Don Jose Constancia, and were, I believe, collected in its environs. The
late M. De Lattre states that he found it in the neighbourhood of Guatepec, where it is very rare; that it
lives exclusively among the great trees of the forest, and that the sexes are usually met with separate from
each other.

The Delattria Henrici may be distinguished from its congeners, and from every other known species by
the subdued lilaceous red of its throat and by the sombre brown colour of its under surface.

The total absence of the throat-mark in the female at once distinguishes that sex: in other respects the

plumage of the male and female closely assimilates.

The male has the head, all the upper surface and the wing-coverts dark bronzy green, fading into a sombre
brownish hue on the rump; wings purplish brown; tail very dark blackish brown, the lateral feathers
tipped with greyish brown ; behind the eye a semi-crescentic mark of dull white; ear-coverts brown ; throat
subdued lilaceous red; under surface greyish brown, washed with bronze on the flanks ; under tail-coverts
dark brown with lighter edges.

The female differs in having no trace of the lilaceous red mark on the throat, that part being brown

lightly washed with buff.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. The curious orchid is the Cycnoches ventricosum.

 

 

 

 

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DELATTRIA VIRIDIPALLENS.

Green-throated Cazique.

Trochilus viridi-pallens, Boure. et Muls. Ann. de la Soc. Sci. de Lyons, 1846, p. 321.—Ib. Rev.
Zool. 1846, p. 316.

Polytmus viridi-pallens, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 57.

Delattria viridi-pallens, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 70, Delattria, sp. 2.

Thaumantias viridipallens, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 255.

Agyrtria viridipallens, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 10.

 

Tur Delattria viridipallens is a native of Guatemala and Mexico. ‘The specimens from which MM. Bourcier
and Mulsant took their description were brought to Europe by M. De Lattre, who obtained them at
Coban ; others, in my own collection, have been sent to me by my friend George Ure Skinner, Esq., from
Guatemala, where they had been procured and beautifully prepared by M. Riviera Paz. The species offers
but little to recommend it to our notice, for its structure exhibits no peculiarity, nor is its plumage
conspicuous for beauty,—indeed it is its want of colour that is its principal characteristic; even the pale
green colouring of the throat, which suggested the specific appellation of eredipallens, is not very bright or
glittering, and hence I have not sought the aid of a metallic agent in depicting it, but have depended upon
ordinary means for its faithful representation.

Like Delattria Henrict and D. Clemencie, this bird bears the semi-crescentic mark of white behind the
eye, and like them, too, presents a similar difference in the colouring of the throat of the two sexes, the
female being destitute of the green hue which decorates that part in the male.

The male has the head, upper surface, wing-coverts and flanks coppery green, the coppery hue prevailing
on the lower part of the back and rump; behind the eye a semi-crescentic mark of white ; throat pale green ;
breast and abdomen white; under tail-coverts pale greenish grey, fringed with white; wings purplish
brown; central tail-feathers bluish brown; the remainder brownish grey, the grey tint becoming gradually
more apparent or stronger as the feathers recede from the centre ; bill black ; feet dark brown.

The female is very similar, but has the throat greyish white instead of green ; and the lateral tail-feathers
of a paler hue than those of the male.

The birds are represented of the natural size, on the Onedium ornithorhynchum, one of the beautiful

Orchids of Guatemala.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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HELIOPADICA MELANOTIS.

Black-eared Humming-bird.

Trochilus melanotus, Swains. Phil. Mag. 1827, p. 441.

——— leucotis, Vieill.. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxii. p. 428.—Ib. Ency.
Meéth. Orn., part 11. p. 559°

Ornismya Arsennii, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois.-Mou., pp. xxvij, 60. pl. 9.—Ib. Supp., p. 152.
pl. 27.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du Gen. Trochilus, p. xxxix.—Ib. Traité
d’Orn., p. 279.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-birds, vol. i. p. 137. pl. 20.

Thaunatias leucotis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 78, Thaumatias, sp. 8?

Basilinna leucotis, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 13?

 

AurHoueH Prince Charles Bonaparte and all recent writers considet the present bird and the Zrochzlus
leucotis to be identical, and have made the two names synonymous, I have very great doubt as to the
accuracy of this opinion, as Vieillot makes no mention of the splendid blue colouring of the crown, and
moreover states that his bird is from Brazil, while the native countries of the one here figured are Guatemala
and Mexico. It is doubtless the Ornismya Arsenni of Lesson, as the figures given by him accord with the
two sexes; but his name must give place to the prior one of me/anotis assigned to it by Swainson. Lesson
evidently had no knowledge of its native country, as, in his description of the male, he states it is from
Brazil, and in his endeavour to correct this error, mentions in his account of the female that it is not from
Brazil, but from Paraguay, while it is not found in either country. It is one of the prettiest and most highly
coloured of the Trochilide, and moreover differs so much in form, and particularly in its markings, from
all others that I have proposed for it a new generic title.

I observe that specimens from Mexico are a trifle larger in all their admeasurements than those sent from
Guatemala; their colouring, however, is precisely the same.

The sexes differ considerably, the female having none of the brilliant blue on the face or the glittering
green of the chest, which are so conspicuous in the opposite sex.

The following is Swainson’s short but expressive description of this bird :-—

‘Golden green; front and chin sapphire-blue ; throat emerald-green ; ears black, margined above with
white; bill red; tail even. Table-land of Mexico, Temiscaltipec, Real del Monte.”

To this I may add that the wings are purplish brown; the two centre tail-feathers bronzy green; the
lateral feathers in some instances black tipped with bronze, in others their outer webs are bronzy and the
inner black ; abdomen grey ; flanks greenish.

The female has the crown brownish grey; upper surface, wing-coverts, flanks and two centre tail-feathers
bronzy green ; lateral tail-feathers deep bluish black, washed with bronze at the base and tipped with grey,
particularly the outer feather ; ear-coverts black, above which is a mark of white; under surface buffy white,
spangled here and there with green,

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Barkeria elegans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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HELIOPADICA XANTUSI, Lawr.

Xantus’s Humming-Bird.

Amazilia Zantusu, Lawr. in Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. in New York, April 9, 1860, female.
Helhopaedica castaneocauda, Lawr. in Aun. Lyc. Nat. Hist. in New York, April 23, 1860, male.

 

Ir is pleasing to mark the progress which science has made during the present century, and to note the
important discoveries which have been the result of that impetus which has induced the mind of man to
search the heavens for a new planet, or to transport himself to the distant and untrodden lands of our globe
for the purpose of seeking for novelties in animal and vegetable life; nor is it less pleasing to the man of
science to make known and to record the important information that has thus been acquired. It may be
fairly stated that America has sons who will be second to none in the employment of their energies in this
direction ; for many of them are already actively engaged in zoological pursuits, and others are travelling
in distant lands in order to add to our store of knowledge; among the latter may be especially mentioned
the discoverer of the present highly interesting species of Humming-Bird, of whom Mr. Lawrence, after
describing the bird in the ‘ Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History in New York,’ thus speaks : ‘‘ Specimens
were sent to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. John Xantus, whose investigations of the ornithology of
western North America have been the means of adding many new birds to science; in compliment to
him I have named it.”

I may state that the Hehopedica Xantusi and the H. melanotis are the only species of this particular form
that have yet been discovered. ‘The latter is a native of Mexico and Guatemala, the former an inhabitant
of California; but over what portions of that country its range extends is unknown. ‘The specimens sent
to the Smithsonian Institution were procured at Cape Lucas.

I cannot close this notice without recording my best thanks to the Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution
for their liberality in permitting this rare species to be transmitted to me for the purpose of enriching the
present work ; neither am I less obliged to my friend Mr. Lawrence for his attention in making me speedily
acquainted with Mr. Xantus’s discovery of a new Humming-Bird in what I presume may be considered as a
part of the North American States.

‘This species,” says Mr. Lawrence, ‘is a near ally of A. melanotis, but differs in the head being black
instead of sapphire-blue, in the green plumage being of a much darker shade, the abdomen rufous, in place
of grey, and in the dark chestnut colour of the tail, which is mostly black in melanotis.”

The following is Mr. Lawrence’s description of the two sexes; but I must premise that, as the male had
been placed in spirits, the colours he describes are probably a little darker than those of the bird when alive.

‘«¢ Male.—Front, crown, chin, and a continuous line running below and beyond the eye, black ; a white line
extends backward from behind the eye, and borders on the black ; the upper plumage is grass-green ; tail
dark chestnut-red, as are also the shafts ; the lateral feathers are somewhat lighter in colour; the two central
feathers have a margin of golden bronze extending entirely round them, the other tail-feathers have a narrow
edging of dull black encircling their ends; wings purplish brown; throat brilliant grass-green; sides and
under wing-coverts grass-green ; abdomen and under tail-coverts dull rufous; tarsi clothed with pale rufous
feathers ; bill flesh-colour for three-quarters of its length, with the end black ; feet blackish brown.

‘“‘ Female.—Front adjoining the bill and lores bright rufous ; crown dark ash, with a tinge of pale purple,
on a side view dull green ; upper plumage and upper wing-coverts light shining green in some lights, golden,
paler and more golden on the upper tail-coverts, which are edged with rufous; the two central tail-feathers
light shining green, golden at the end; the other tail-feathers are chestnut-red, becoming gradually paler to
the outer ones ; the two feathers next the middle ones on each side have longitudinal black spots on the
outer side of both webs near the end, scarcely reaching to the shaft, these spots are bronzed; the next
feather has the same marks, but less in extent, and on the outer web being merely a marginal line; on the
outer feather it consists of only a small spot on the edge of the immer web; the shafts of all the tail-feathers
are red; wings purplish brown, edged on the bend of the wing with pale rufous ; over the eye is a stripe of
pale rufous, which is continued and becomes broader over the ears, where it is white; below the eye and
extending along the side of the neck and under the white stripe is one of dull rufous brown; under surface
of the body of a uniform rather pale rufous, on the sides of the breast and of the body under the wings
intermixed with green; under wing-coverts green, marked next the body with rufous; vent white; under
tail-coverts pale rufous; upper mandible black, under flesh-coloured for about half its length, dusky black
at the end; tarsi clothed with pale rufous feathers ; feet black.”

The figures represent both sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Ceanothus Veitchianus.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 
TOPAZA PELLA.

Crimson Topaz.

Faleinellus gutture viridi, Klem, Aves, No. xv. p. 108.

The Long-tailed Red Humming Bird, Kdw. Glean., pl. 32. fig. 1.

Polytmus Surimamensis longicaudus ruber, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 690.—Id. 8vo. tom. ii. De 27
—Gerin., tom. iv. t. 305. 2.

Le Colibri Topaze, Buff. Pl. Enl. 599. fig. 1.—Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. pl 2ups is
male, pl. 3. p. 16 female.

Trochilus pella, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 189.—Ib. Gmel. Edit., tom i. p. 485.—Lath. Ind.
Orn., tom. i. p. 302.—Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd Edit., tom. i. p. lxxxiv.—Vieill.
Eney. Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 554. pl. 128. fig. 5.—Dumont de Ste Croix, Dict.
Sci. Nat., tom. x. p. 44.—Drapiez, Dict. Classiq. d’Hist. Nat.,tom. iv. p. 320, and
Atlas, pl. 28. fig. 2.—Less. Hist. Nat. des Colibris, p- 21. pl. 2 mile adulte, pl. 3

var. tapirée, pl. 4 jeune mile, pl. 5 femelle.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du
Gen. Trochilus, p. xvi.

Certhia Surinamensis, Spaloswk. Vog., tom. i. t. 13.

De Topaz kehlige Kohbri, Schmid. Vog., p. 61. t. 48.

Grand Cohbri, Ferm. Surinam, vol. 11. p. 195.

Colibri a longue queue de Cayenne, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 46.—Ib. Sonn. Edit.,
tab. xvii. p. 258.

Topaz Humming Bird, Shaw, Zool. Misc., pl. 513.—Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 746.—Ib. Gen.
ist: vol. iv. p. 291.

Topaz-throated Humming Bird, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 274. pl. 37.—Jard. Nat. Lib.
Humming Birds, vol. 1. p. 115. pl. 24 male, pl. 25 var.

Colibri pella, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 288. pl. 78. fig. 1.

Topaza pella, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Topaza, sp. 1.—Bonap. Consp.
Gen, Ayv., p. 73.

 

Te countries of Cayenne, Trinidad, and Surinam, and the fluviatile regions of the Lower Amazon are the
native habitats of this gorgeous species, which may be regarded not only as one of the gems of Ornithology,
but as one of the most beautifully adorned species of the Zrochitde ; I may also add that it is one of the
oldest known members of the family, being mentioned in the works of every writer on natural history, from
the days of Linneus to the present time; yet curiously enough, the only notice of its habits that has been
recorded is that contained in Mr. Waterton’s celebrated ‘‘ Wanderings,” which, brief as it is, is of the
highest interest. Speaking of the Humming Birds observed by him in Cayenne and Demerara, he says—

“One species alone never shows his beauty to the sun; and were it not for his lovely shining colours,
you might almost be tempted to class him with the Goat-suckers, on account of his habits. He is the
largest of all the Humming-birds, and is all red and changing gold-green, except the head, which is black.
He has two long feathers in the tail, which cross each other, and these have gained him the name of Aara-
bimiti, or Ara Humming-bird, from the Indians. You never find him on the sea-coast, or where the river is
salt, or in the heart of the forest, unless fresh water be there. He keeps close by the side of woody fresh-
water rivers and dark and lonely creeks. He leaves his retreat before sunrise, to feed on the insects near
the water; he returns to it as soon as the sun’s rays cause a glare of light, is sedentary all day long, and
comes out again for a short time after sunset. He builds his nest on a twig over the water in the unfre-
quented creeks ; it looks like tanned cow-leather.”

The nest is of a deep cup-shaped form, the walls exceedingly thin, and the whole structure composed
apparently of a species of fungus very much resembling German tinder, united by cobwebs or some similar
material. The eggs are white, two in number, and about five-eighths of an inch in length.

I have figured two adult males, and a third in a style of plumage which is generally supposed to be that
of the female; it is believed by many, however, that this sex, when very old, assumes a plumage similar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to that of the males, but never acquires the lengthened tail-feathers ; a conclusion arrived at in consequence
at S»

frequently sent from Cayenne in this state, which after all may be that of immature

of specimens being

males.

Head, lores, and a broad crescentic band passing down the sides of the neck and across the lower part of

the throat deep velvety black ; throat, within the black, lustrous greenish yellow, with a rich golden or topaz
hue down the centre; back and wing-coverts rich deep red, passing into orange-red on the scapularies and
lower part of the back ; wings purplish brown ; under wing-coverts and base of the secondaries beneath
rufous; upper tail-coverts and two centre tail-feathers bronzy green, the next tail-feather on each side
brownish black, about half the breadth and thrice the length of the other tail-feathers, and with their basal
third hidden by the central feathers; three outer feathers on each side reddish buff; across the breast
a broad band of rich deep crimson ; abdomen and flanks paler shining crimson; under tail-coverts golden
green; thighs white; bill black ; feet yellow.

In the female, or young, the head and upper surface is shining green, washed with bronze on the back ;
wings purplish brown ; upper tail-coverts bright shining green; two central tail-feathers dark green, tipped
with black; two next on each side dull black; the two outer ones on each side dull brown at the base, and
rufous for the remainder of their length; under surface golden, with a faint indication of the lustrous throat
so conspicuous in the male; under tail-coverts bright green; bill black; feet yellow.

The Plate represents two males and a supposed female on a species of Hpidendrum, common to the

country the bird inhabits.

 
 

 
 

 

 

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TOPAZA PY BA, Gow.
Fiery Topaz.

Trochilus (Topaza) pyra, Gould in Proe. of Zool. Soc., part xiv. p- 85.
Topaza pyra, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 110, Topaza, sp. 3.—Bonap. Consp. Gen.
Vite [De 1

 

Tue late Mr. George Loddiges of Hackney, whose love for the Humming Birds was only equalled by his
kind and amiable disposition, more than once said to me, “I think the Z7ochilus pella is the finest of all the
Trochilide, and I believe it will always remain so, for we cannot imagine a more beautiful species.” Had
not his premature death deprived me of a friend, and natural science of one of its most enthusiastic
devotees, I should have hastened with a corresponding enthusiasm to show him this new and still
more lovely bird, well knowing that he would feel equal pleasure with myself in the discovery of a species
still finer than that which he had ever regarded as the finest of its tribe: this gratification is however
denied me ; but another is still within my reach, that of stating that it was the sight of his fine collection,
ever thrown open with the utmost readiness to my inspection, that first turned my attention to this beau-
tiful group of birds, and determined me, since his lamented death, to attempt the delineation in a suitable
manner of the forms in which he took so deep an interest.

The native habitat of the Zopaza pyra, as far as we yet know, is the higher part of the Rio Negro, a
tributary of the Upper Amazon; it is in this locality that all the specimens which have been sent to Europe
were obtained: the interesting nest which I have figured was procured at Barra, and given to me by
W. H. Edwards, Esq., author of «A Voyage up the River Amazon.”

In the size of its body and the length of its wings the 7. pyra is somewhat larger than 7. ped/a, while at
the same time it has a smaller bill, a more circumscribed gorget, a larger proportion of deep velvety black
on the head and surrounding the gorget; the whole of the body of a rich fiery scarlet, without any pectoral
band of crimson ; and, lastly, the three lateral feathers on each side purplish black instead of buff, and of
a narrower form—features by which it may be at once distinguished from its near ally.

The nest is precisely similar in form and materials to that of 7. peda, and the eggs are also white and

two in number.

Abdomen, sides, back and shoulders luminous fiery red; head, ear-coverts, back of the neck and a band
crossing the lower part of the neck deep velvety black; throat luminous pale green, passing into rich
orange in the centre; two centre tail-feathers purplish green, the remainder deep purple ; the feather on
each side the centre ones much elongated, and crossing each other near the base ; upper tail-coverts
luminous light green with red reflexions ; under tail-coverts luminous green ; primaries purplish brown ;
black ; feet blackish brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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OREOTROCHILUS CHIMBORAZO.

Chimborazian Hill-Star.

Trochilus Chimborazo, Boure. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 305.
Oreotrochilus Chimborazo, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xv. p. 10.—Gray and Mitch.

Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 104, Genus Oreotrochilus, sp. 3.—Bonap. Consp. Gen.
aves . 7O)

 

Tus beautiful species of Hill-Star is an inhabitant of the celebrated volcanic mountain Chimborazo, where
it is to be found at an elevation of from 12 to 16,000 feet, or to the verge of perpetual snow; in these
desolate regions it finds a home so congenial to its habits, that it is never known to descend to the warmer
valleys below; the various alpine plants, particularly the Chuguiraga insignis, afford it a constant supply
of insect food; there, in the land of storms and earthquakes, it has dwelt for ages entirely unknown, and
there it might have remained for ages yet to come, since few would imagine that so delicate a creature as a
Humming-bird could live in such an inhospitable clime, had not the energy of modern travellers induced
them to explore regions neglected by their predecessors, and thereby bring to light the numerous
interesting objects which have enriched our collections of late years, among which few are more conspicuous
for their beauty than the Oreotrochilus Chimborazo. The merit of discovering this fine bird is due to
M. De Lattre, who obtained a single specimen of the male while passing over one of the ridges of Chim-
borazo; this specimen is now in the possession of E. Wilson, Esq. of Lydstip House, Pembrokeshire. For
the first specimens that came into my own possession I am indebted to my friend Professor Jameson of
the University of Quito, who sent me fine examples of both sexes. Since that period the researches of
M. Jules Bourcier, late French Consul at Quito, have been rewarded by the acquisition of numerous others,
and it is to this gentleman that I am indebted for the following brief notes—all that are known—of its
habits and manners.

“This species is exclusively confined to the volcanic mountain Chimborazo; here, at an altitude where
vegetation ceases and near to the eternal snows, it loves to dwell, the altitude of its range appearing to be
governed by that of the Chuquiraga, its favourite shrub, the flowers of which afford it an abundance of
nectarian and insect food. It is solitary in its habits, and so pugnacious, that it immediately offers battle to
intruders upon its haunts: the male always perches on the extremity of the most elevated branch, and is
rarely found near the female, which, unlike the male, invariably perches near to the ground ; a circumstance,
which, combined with her sombre colouring, fenders her very difficult of detection.

“The nest is formed of lichens, and is either suspended to or sheltered beneath a ledge of rock; the
eges as usual are white, and two in number.

“The young retain their greyish green colouring during the first year, and do not attain their perfect
plumage until the second year of their existence ;” the young males may, however, be at all times

distinguished by a tolerably well-defined collar of olive-green and brown.

The male has the head and throat bright violet-blue, bounded below by a narrow line of deep velvety
black, and having in the centre of the violet-blue of the throat an oblong triangular gorget of rich light
shining green; upper surface shining olive-green, becoming of a purer green on the upper tail-coverts:;
wings purplish brown; two centre tail-feathers dark green; outer feather on each side greenish black for
three-fourths of its length, and white at the base; the remainder of the tail-feathers white; the two next
the outer feathers broadly, and the inner one narrowly margined with greenish black; chest and centre of
the abdomen white, with a line of greenish black down the centre of its lower portion; flanks olive-brown ;
under tail-coverts shining olive-green 5 thighs and feathers clothing the tarsi brown ; bill and feet black.

The female has all the upper surface olive-green ; two centre tail-feathers dark glossy green; the
remainder light greenish brown with white bases, and a large irregular spot of white at the extremity of the
inner web; under surface olive-brown, each feather edged with white ; throat white, with a spot of olive
near the tip of each feather ; bill and feet as in the male.

The Plate represents two adult males and a female on the Chuquiraga insignis, of the natural size; and in

the distance two immature males.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

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OREOTROCHILUS PICHINCHA.

Pichinchian Hill-Star.

Trochilus Pichincha, Boure. et Muls. Ann. de l’Acad. Sci. Bell. Lett. et Arts de Lyon, July 17,
1849.

Oreotrochilus Jamesonti, Jard. Cont. Orn., 1849, p. 42.—Ib. 1850, p- 27-1. pl. 43.
Pichincha, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 76.

 

Tue present bird is an inhabitant of the voleanic mountains of Pichincha and Cotopaxi, and is either more
abundant or more easily attainable than O. Chimborazo, since specimens are far more numerous in our
collections of this recently acquired, than of the older known species. These two Hill-Stars are so inti-
mately allied, that the gorget-like mark of green on the throat of O. Chimborazo is the only feature by
which it can be distinguished from the bird here represented ; the opinion of their non-identity is, however,
strengthened by the fact that they are never found to invade each other’s territories. Ina letter to Sir
William Jardine, Bart., Professor Jameson states that the present species inhabits the rocky summits of
Pichincha, where it is confined to a zone, commencing immediately below the snow-line and extending
downwards about 500 feet, and that it extracts its food from the flowers of the Chuquiraga insignis, a plant
apparently peculiar to the volcanic soil surrounding the extinct craters of Ecuador.

In some notes respecting this species kindly communicated to me by M. Jules Bourcier, that gentleman
states that it was first discovered by himself near the line of perpetual snow on the volcanic mountain of
Pichincha in the Republic of Ecuador; that the altitude at which it is generally found varies from 10,500 to
12,000 feet above the level of the sea; that it is principally met with in the warmer gorges of the moun-
tain, where the soil being free from snow is adorned with vegetation; that, like the O. Chimborazo, it
appears to have a decided preference for the shrub named Chugquiraga insignis by Humboldt and Bonpland

?

in their “ Plantes Hquinoctiales” ; that its habits and manners so closely resemble those of O. Chimborazo
that one description will serve for both; and that although the volcano of Pichincha is not more than
thirty leagues distant as the crow flies from that of Chimborazo, the species inhabiting each of these

mountains respectively is never found on the other.

The male has the head and throat bright violet-blue, bounded below by a narrow line of deep velvety
black ; upper surface shining olive-green, becoming of a purer green on the upper tail-coverts ; wings
purplish brown; two central tail-feathers dark green, the outer feathers on each side greenish black for
three-fourths of their length and white at the base; the remainder of the tail-feathers white, the two next
the outer ones broadly, and the inner ones narrowly edged with greenish black; chest and centre of the
abdomen white, with a line of greenish black down the centre of its lower portion; flanks olive-brown ;
under tail-coverts shining olive-green; thighs and feathers clothing the tarsi olive-brown; bill and feet
black.

The young male differs in having the head and gorget dull grass-green, with an indication only of the
purple hue; and in having the abdomen clouded with brown.

The female has the whole of the upper surface olive-green ; two central tail-feathers dark glossy green ;
the remainder greenish brown with white bases, and a large irregular but nearly triangular-shaped spot of
white at the extremity of the inner web; under surface olive-brown, each feather edged with white ; throat
greyish white, with a spot of olive near the tip of each feather ; bill and feet as in the male.

The Plate represents two males and a female on the Chuquiraga insignis, all of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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OREOTROCHILUS ESTELLA.

Kstella’s Hill-star.

Trochilus Estella, D’Orb. et Late. Syn., No. 31. p. 32.—D’Orb. Voy. dans l’Amér. Mérid.,
tom. iv. p. 376.

Orthorhynchus Estella, D’Orb. Voy. dans l’Amér. Mérid., Atlas, Ois., pe Gil est:
Trochilus Cecilie, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p- 43.

Oreotrochilus Estella, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XV. 1847, p. 10.—Gray and Mitch.
Gen. of Birds, Oreotrochilus, sp. Ll.

 

Ir M. D’Orbigny was not the first who discovered, he was certainly the first who described this fine
species of Humming Bird, the rarity of which in our collections may be attributed to the circumstance of
its being an inhabitant of those high mountain ranges which are rarely visited by European travellers and
naturalists. ‘‘ We have only met with this charming species,” says M. D’Orbigny, ‘in the valley in which
is situated the town of La Paz, in Bolivia, at the foot of the western side of the eastern Cordilleras. It
inhabits dry and elevated places, at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet above the level of the ocean.
It is solitary in its habits, flits about from flower to flower, and often rests upon shrubs and trees. Its
food consists of insects of various kinds,” and the pollen of flowers.

Mr. Bridges procured numerous examples during his late expedition into Bolivia, some of which were
obtained at a higher elevation than that mentioned by M. D’Orbigny.

The sexes offer very considerable differences in their size and plumage, the female being by far the
smaller bird, and entirely wanting the rich green of the throat which is so conspicuous in the male. The
young males of the year assume an intermediate style of colouring, the green of the throat being obscurely
indicated, and the mark on the centre of the abdomen being much less apparent than in the adult.

The male has the head, all the upper surface and wings greyish olive-brown, passing into dull coppery
green on the upper tail-coverts ; two centre tail-feathers and the outer one on each side, (which has an
inward curvature,) green with bronze reflexions, the remainder narrowly edged on the external webs with
brown ; throat rich luminous grass-green, bounded below with a crescentic band of deep velvety black with
blue reflexions; flanks olive-brown; breast and sides of the abdomen white; down the centre of the
abdomen a mark of chestnut; under tail-coverts olive with green reflexions; tarsi clothed with brown
feathers ; bill and feet brownish black ; irides blackish brown.

Total length, 5+ inches ; bill, 14; wing, 3; tail, 2+; tarsus, ~,.

The female has the upper surface the same as the male; the two middle tail-feathers brownish green,
the remainder white with a band of green across the centre: the outer feather on each side, which is much
shorter than the rest, less pointed, and less inwardly curved than in the male, is of a browner hue
with bluish green reflexions; throat white, regularly spangled with brown, obscurely tinted with blue;
chest and abdomen brownish white, the brown predominating on the flanks.

Total length, 43 inches; bill, 1+; wing, 23; tail, 2; tarsus, 3%.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Phycella Herbertiana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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OREOTROCHILUS LEUCOPLEURUS, Gow.
White-sided Hill-star.

Oreotrochilus leucopleurus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XV. 1847, p. 10.—Gray and
Mitch. Gen. of Birds, Oreotrochilus, sp. 2.

 

Hiruerro this species has only been found in Chili, where it inhabits the sheltered valleys among the Andes,
just below the line of perpetual congelation, and where it takes the place in those more southern regions of
the Oreotrochilus Estelle of Bolivia. Mr. Bridges, from whom I have received numerous specimens, pro-
cured on the Andes of Aconcagua, states that the bird was not uncommon near the Ojos de Agua, on the
road towards Mendoza, at an elevation of 10,000 feet.

It is a smaller bird in all its admeasurements than Oreotrochilus Estelle, and may be distinguished from
that species by the bluish black mark down the centre of the abdomen; the outer tail-feathers also differ
in being narrower, more rigid, and of a more incurved form; in other respects the two birds are very
similar. I have some specimens with the feathers of the throat of a dull brown tipped with blue, and
the abdomen clouded with dull greyish brown, while the black mark on the centre of the abdomen is as
conspicuous as in the adult; in all probability these are young males of the year. In the Loddigesian
collection there are fine examples of this bird, as well as a beautiful nest, brought direct from Chili by the
late Dr. Miller: I have been kindly permitted to figure this nest, which appears to have been attached by
means of cobwebs to the side of a rock or a large stone; it is larger in proportion to the size of the bird
than is usually the case among the Z7ochilide, and is a dense and warm structure composed of moss, fine
vegetable substances and feathers.

The male has the head, all the upper surface and wings greyish olive-brown, passing into dull coppery
green on the upper tail-coverts ; two centre tail-feathers and the outer one on each side, which has an inward
curvature, green with bronze reflexions, the remainder narrowly edged on the external webs with brown ;
throat rich luminous grass-green, bounded below with a crescentic band of deep velvety black with blue
reflexions; flanks olive-brown ; breast and sides of the abdomen white; down the centre of the abdomen
a mark of black with steel-blue reflexions; under tail-coverts olive; tarsi clothed with brown feathers ;
bill and feet brownish black ; irides blackish brown.

Total length, 5 inches; bill, 17>; wing, 22; tail, 2; tarsus, 3.

The female has the upper surface the same as the male, the two centre tail-feathers brownish green, the
remainder white, with a band of green across the centre; the outer feather on each side, which is much
shorter than the rest, and not so pointed nor so inwardly curved as in the male, is of a browner hue; throat
white, spangled with spots of brown obscurely tinted with blue; chest and abdomen white, the brown pre-
dominating on the flanks.

Total length, 44 inches; bill, ¢; wing, 23; tail, 2; tarsus, +s.

The figures represent two adult males, a young male, a female, and a nest, all of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
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OREOTROCHILUS MELANOGASTER, Gowia.
Black-breasted Hill-star.
Oreotrochilus melanogaster, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xv. p. 10.—Gray and Mitch. Gen.

of Birds, vol. i. p. 104, Oreotrochilus, sp. 5.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p- 76, Oreo-
trochilus, sp. 6.—Reich. Autz. der Col., p. 15.—Bonap. Rev. Zool. 1854, p. 250.

 

No species of this well-defined group of Humming-birds is so rare in the collections of Europe as the
Oreotrochilus melanogaster : a circumstance which is due to the fact of the country of which it is a native
being more unfrequently visited than those inhabited by the other species. Ecuador, as is well known, is
the true habitat of the O. Pichincha and O. Chimborazo, both of which species are named after the volcanic
mountains they respectively frequent; O. Hstelle and O. Adele are found in Bolivia; O. deucopleurus in
Chili, and the present species in Peru. All these species inhabit countries of great elevation, and are
mostly confined to very limited areas. The Oreotrochili may truly be considered to constitute one of the
best defined genera of the great family of the Zrochzide, and to rank among the finest of the Humming-
birds. A splendid specimen of the O. melanogaster graces the collection of the late Mr. George Loddiges,
and two are contained in my own: all of these were procured in Peru, but in what precise locality is
unknown. ‘The whole of them are males, and, so far as I am aware, no female has yet reached Europe.

All the upper surface olive-brown with a golden lustre, and washed with green on the upper tail-coverts ;
wings greyish brown with purple reflexions; throat rich lustrous grass-green; breast and abdomen rich
deep bluish black ; flanks rusty brown; tail green, with bronze reflexions; bill black; feet olive-black.

The figures are of the size of life. The plant is the Fuchsia spectabihs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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OREOTROCHILUS ADELA.
Adela’s Hill-star.

Trochilus Adela, D’Orb. et Lafr. Syn., No. 32. p. 33.—D’Orb. Voy. dans ’Amér. Mérid.,
tom. iv. p. 377.

Orthorhynchus Adela, D’Orb. Voy. dans ’Amér. Mérid., Atlas, Ois., pl. 61. fig. 2.

Oreotrochilus Adela, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XV. 1847, p. 10.—Gray and Mitch.
Gen. of Birds, Oreotrochilus, sp. 4.

 

Tuis is one of the many novelties which rewarded the researches of M. D’Orbigny, who figured it for
the first time in his fine work, the ‘“‘ Voyage dans l Amérique Méridionale,” and who states that he met
with it in one instance only, on the dry and arid mountains in the neighbourhood of Chuquisaca in Bolivia,
where it flies among the rocks and perches upon the loftiest plants. It was also seen by Mr. Bridges
during his travels in the same country, flying at a considerable elevation, and exhibiting many of the
actions and manners of O. Estelle and O. leucopleurus. The rich chestnut colouring of the flanks and the
black mark down the centre of the abdomen render it conspicuously different from every other species of
Humming Bird at present known to us; and it differs from the other Oreotrochili in having the tail-feathers
of a narrower and more lengthened form, and in the outer feather on each side being broader and less

incurved.
The sexes present the usual diversity of colouring, the female being of a very sombre hue.

The male has all the upper surface dark greyish olive-brown, passing into dull coppery green on the
upper tail-coverts; wings brown, tinged with purple; two centre tail-feathers olive-brown ; remainder of
the tail-feathers vinous buff, narrowly margined with olive-brown; throat rich lustrous green, assuming a
golden hue in some specimens ; centre of the breast and abdomen deep velvety black, with a slight tinge of
bluish green; sides of the chest and flanks rich deep chestnut ; under tail-coverts olive-brown, tinged with
buff; tarsi thickly clothed with brown feathers ; bill, eyes and feet black.

Total length, 5 inches; bill, 1+; wing, 23; tail, 27; tarsus, #.

The female resembles the male in the colouring of the upper surface; has the lateral tail-feathers
clouded instead of being regularly margined with brown; the throat white, regularly spangled with brown ;
the abdomen rufous; and the under tail-coverts and feathers clothing the tarsi pale brown.

Total length, 43 inches; bill, 15; wing, 23; tail, 2; tarsus, 3.

The figures represent the two sexes on a species of Salwa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LAMPORNIS MANGO.
The Mango. |

Trochilus Mango, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 191.—Ib. Gmel. Edit., tom. i. p- 491.—Shaw,
Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 294.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 307.—Less. Hist. Nat. des
Col., p. 58. pls. 13, 13 bis, 14.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p. 353.
—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., part u. p. 957.—Drap. Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat., tom. iv.
p- 319.—Dumont, Dict. Sci. Nat., tom. x. p- 90.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds,
vol. il. p. 100. pl. 20.—Swains. Birds of Brazil, pls. 27, 28.—Pr. Max. Beitr. zur
Naturg. von Bras., B. iv. Div. i. p. 47.—Aud. Birds of Am., vol. ii. pl. cuxxiv.—
Ib. Orn. Bio., vol. ii. p. 480.—Ib. Syn. Birds of Amer., p- 170.

Le Plastron noir, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p- 099.—Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. pico. plc

Le Cohbri du Mexique, Buff. Pl. Enl. 680. figs. 2, 3.

Trochilus violicauda, Bodd.

= _ albus, Gmel. Edit. Lann. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p: 488.

—_—_—. mitidus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p- 805.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p- 301.

Le Colibri a queue violette, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., vol. vi. p- 55.—Ib. Pl. Enl. 671. fig. 2.—
Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. pace raphy ll.

Trochilus punctulatus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 488.—Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn.,
vol. u. p. 652 ?—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 306.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii.
p. 303.

Le Bee-fleurs a bande noir le long du corps, Azara, Voy. dans l’Amér. Mér., Sonn. Edit., vol. iv.

 

p- 89. no. ccxcv.

Le Bee-fleurs bleu en dessous, Ib., p. 91. no. cexcvt.

Le Bee-flewrs peint, tb., p- 92. no. cexeviit.

Polytmus punctulatus, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p- 669.

Trochilus atricapillus, Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p- 354.—Ib.
Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 553.

—— fasciatus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p- 803.

——— quadricolor, Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn., part un. p. 573.

Le Cohbri a ventre piqueté, Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 21. pl. 8.

Trochilus nigricollis, Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p. 349 ?—Ib. Ency.
Méth. Orn., pp. 2, 553 ?

Lampornis mango, Swains. Zool. Journ., vol. iii. p- 358.—Ib. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p- 330.—
Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Lampornis, sp. 1.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854,
p- 250.

Polytmus mango, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 107, Polytmus, sp. 10.

Mango Humming Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 758.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 310.—Shaw,
Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 294.

Violet-tailed Humming Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 754.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii.
p- 301.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 303.

Anthracothorax Mango, Reichenb. Autz. der Colibris, p.11.—Ib.Troch. enumer., p.8. pl.pcccxx.
figs. 4839-4841.

Purple-tailed Humming Bird, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 296.—Ib. Nat. Misc., pl. 333.

Spotted-necked Humming Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 755.

 

Tus familiar species of Humming Bird was not only known to Linnzeus, but to Ray, Willoughby,
Marcgrave, and most of the older authors, and is in fact one of those with which Europeans first became
acquainted ; nevertheless, much confusion exists with regard to its synonymy, which I believe is ee
owing to a nearly allied species, the Lampornis porphyrurus of Jamaica, having been confounded with it.
This bird then it must be understood never goes to Jamaica, and to but few of the West India Islands ; on
the mainland, however, it enjoys a more extensive range than any other species. Audubon has included a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
    
  
   
  
 
  
   
 
 
  
   
  
 
 
  
  
    
  
  
  
   
   
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

ficure of it in his great work on the “ Birds of North America,” taken from a specimen said to haye
cen ki : . Fl a - but I have never yet received examples of the bird from any locality approxi-
eae oer en recions of America, nor from any district fo the northward of Costa Rica :

ating to sate a nerally dispersed over the southern continent for many degrees of latitude
a oe es : pe Oi es from Bogota, Guayaquil, Peru, the Caraccas, the Guianas, the Delta
a Sees Al nake Le Si as far south as the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, in all of which
ae : is e be-found wherever localities suited to its habits cn olga differences of colouring are
observable in examples from very distant localities, but De of suilioient imporigne to warrant their being
characterized as distinct. The specimens which exhibit the greatest difference AUS thoes from Guayaquil,
some of those I possess having the black of the throat washed with a oe glittering blue. The great
variation which occurs between the colouring of the sexes and cS youthful backs a) different ages Nas occa-
sioned an amount of confusion with regard to the synonymy of this species, which it is almost impossiilé to
unravel, and in the investigation of which I have received ee valhieib< assisianee from M. Bourcier, of
Paris, who has kindly sent me a list of all the synonyms which, in his opinion, are referable to this species,

-and which, with a few others, are given above. I am also indebted to this gentleman for the following

note respecting the range of the bird, &c. :— : a

“This Humming Bird, though one of the most widely spread members of its family, . only to be met
with in hot localities, and wherever it occurs in the interior of a country it is invariably in the very warm
valleys. In its disposition it is wild and quarrelsome ; for although i lives in societies, several being always
found together, it is continually engaged in fighting with its companions, and in driving away all other birds
which approach the tree in which it is breeding. It inhabits Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, New Grenada,
La Trinité, Guiana, and Brazil. The adult does not assume its perfect plumage until the end of the
second year, and in the interval passes through so many changes of plumage, that the variety of appearance
it presents has given rise to the various names under which the bird has been described.

‘T have obtained examples of this species in the province of Manabi, and have killed many in the vicinity
of Guayaquil during the rainy season, when I always found there were four or five young birds for every
old one. Although this species occurs in such distant localities, there is no great variation in the plumage
of the adults. Those obtained in Bolivia are a trifle the largest, and have the bands of green and blue at
the sides of the neck a little less brilliant ; in fact, the hotter the climate in which the bird dwells, the more
brilliant is its general appearance ; the black of the throat is more intense, the green of the back and rump
is finer, and the violet of the tail more lustrous. Its flight is very rapid.”

Mr. Reeves informs me that in Brazil the Lampornis Mango is to be found in Rio de J aneiro, Minas Geraes,
St. Paul’s, Santa Catharina, and Para; that it frequents the gardens as well as the forests, and is very
common at Rio in some seasons, and equally scarce at others.

The nest is a round cup-shaped structure, placed near the extremity of a small horizontal branch, and is
composed of cottony or any similar materials that may be at hand, bound together with cobwebs and orna-

mented with numerous small pieces of lichens: the eggs as usual are white and two in number, somewhat

more than half an inch long, by three-eighths of an inch in breadth.

The adult male has the head, all the upper surface, wing- and _tail-coverts, and flanks golden or coppery

green; wings purplish brown; two centre tail-feathers bronzy green ; lateral tail-feathers chestnut with
violet reflexions, and narrowly margined with dark steel-blue ; under surface velvety black, separated from

the golden green of the upper surface by a band of shining blue, which extends from the corner of the
mouth down each side of the neck aud breast ;

green in others; bill and feet black.
The female has the head, upper sur
abdomen white, with a broad

under tail-coverts violet-brown in some specimens, glossy

face, wing- and tail-coverts, and flanks as in the male; breast and
stripe of black down the centre of the throat, and a similar mark down the
centre of the abdomen ; in some Specimens these marks unite, and form a broad black mark down the
middle of the under surface ; under tail-coverts green fringed with grey; two centre tail-feathers bronzy
green ; the next on each side bronzy green, deepening into black at the extremity and slightly fringed with
white at the tip; the next on each side similar, but with an obscure mark of chestnut between the green

and the black ; the two outer feathers bronzy green at the base, then chestnut with violet reflexions, black
towards the extremity and slightly tipped with white.

The young male is similar to the fem

ale, but has the white on each side the neck suffused with chestnut.
Ata very young age the upper sur

ee face is bronzy green 3; the under surface white, spotted down the sides
of the neck and body with chestnyt.y oe e : :
: He fs Be estnut red, the spots being arr anged in a double line from the angle of the
ower mandible, an ying keer acs
“ea eaving a line of white running between them and the eye.

The Plate repre Sic i i
€ Plate represents a m bird, and a nest, all of the natural size. The plant is the

ale, a female, a young
Solanum fragrans. ;

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
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LAMPORNIS PREVOSTI.

Prevost’s Mango.

Trochilus Prevostu, Less. Hist. Nat. des Col., p. 87. pl. 24.—Ib., Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du
Gen. Trochilus, p- xij.—Boure. et Muls. Ann. de la Soe. Sci. de Lyon, 1843, p: 99.
Polytmus Prevostii, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 108, Polytmus, sp. 15.

Lampornis prevosti, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. 6.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de Zool.
1854, p. 250.

Anthracothorax Prevostii, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.

 

Lesson, in his “ Histoire Naturelle des Colibris,” has given the figure of a female Lampornis under the name
of Trochilus Prevostii, which would answer equally well for the female of LZ. Mango, L. Veraguensis, or
_L. gramineus. It would appear that the male was unknown to him, but specimens have since been received
from the same locality—Central America, which the Parisian collectors state to be the males of this species,
and I have no doubt they are correct.

My figure of the male on the accompanying Plate was taken from a fine specimen in my own collection,
received by me with many others of both sexes from Honduras, which country, together with the adjacent
one of Guatemala, is the true habitat of the species. Its most near ally is the Z. Mango, from which it
differs in its rather smaller size, in the much less extent of black on the throat, and in the sides of the neck
being glittering green instead of blue. As might be supposed, the females of such nearly allied species assi-
milate most closely ; if any difference occurs, the female of the Z. Prevosti is the most beautiful as regards

the markings of the tail.

The male has the head and all the upper surface, wing-coverts, sides of the neck, flanks and abdomen
rich golden green ; throat velvety black, bordered on each side with glittering green ; centre of the abdomen
bluish green; vent and a tuft on each flank white ; wings purplish brown; upper tail-coverts and two
central tail-feathers coppery bronze ; lateral tail-feathers fine purple ; under tail-coverts purple, spotted with
green.

The female has the upper and under surface dull golden green, interrupted down the throat and abdomen
by an irregular mark of black, bounded on each side by a similar one of white; vent white ; under tail-
coverts light green, edged with white; two centre tail-feathers bronzy green ; lateral feathers purple at the
base, crossed by a steel-blue band near their extremities, and tipped with white.

The figures on the Plate are the size of life. The plant is the Lacepedea insignis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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LAMPORNIS VERAGU EK NSIS, Goud.
V eraguan Mango.
Lampornis Veraquensis, Gould, MSS.

Lampornis veraquensis, Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250

Sericotes veragquensis, Reichenb, Autz. der Colibris, p- :7.

 

Severat years have now elapsed since I received both drawings and specimens of this new Humming-bird

from M. Warszewicz, the celebrated South American traveller and botanist. The specimens referred to
subsequently I received examples from Costa Rica,
and more recently still from the vicinity of David, transmitted by Mr. Bridges

were collected near the volcano of Chiriqui in Veragua ;

: nothing can be more certain,
therefore, than that the countries immediately to the northward of the Isthmus of |

’anama are the native
habitat of this bird.

Asa species, the Lampornis Veraguensis is as well marked as any member of the genus ;
it possesses a combination of characters which ally it to the Z. gramineus and L. Prevosti ; it differs,

how-
ever, from the former in its much smaller size, and in the brilliant green of the thro

at being continued over
the chest to the abdomen; and from the Z. Prevosti, which it about equals in size, by the total absence of

black on the throat. I am so fortunate as to possess males, females and young males of this fine species,

which may be thus described.

The male has all the upper surface, wing-coverts and flanks golden green ; throat glittering green, inclined

to blue in the centre, and becoming of a deeper blue on the chest and centre of the abdomen : wings purplish
brown ; tail purple, each feather narrowly edged and tipped with darker purple, the two centre feathers
tinged with bronze; tuft on each flank white.

The young male is similar on the upper surface ; has the throat-mark less brilliant and bordered with
white ; the centre tail-feathers bronzy green; the lateral feathers purple at the base, crossed near the tip
with steel-blue and tipped with white.

The female is of a more golden hue above and on the flanks ; has a mark of blackish green bordered with
white down the throat and the lateral tail-feathers as in the young male,

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Pitcairnia macrocalyx.

 

 

 

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LAMPORNIS GRAMINEUS.

Green-throated Mango.
Trochilus gramimeus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 488.—Ib. Gmel. Edit.. tom. L. p. 488.—
Dumont, Dict. Sci. Nat.. tom. x. p- 45.—Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat., tom. in
p. 318.—Less. Hist. Nat. des Col., pp. 52, 56. pls. 12, 12 bis.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et
Syn. des Ois. du Gen. Trochilus. p. x.—Ib. Traité d’Orn.. p. 290.—Vieill. Ois.
de ’Am. Sept., tom. ii. p. 73.
pectoralis, Lath. Ind. Orn.. vol. i. p. 306.—Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn., part un. p. 551.
—Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen Zool. vol. xiv. p. 240.
Le Hausse-col vert, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. Vi. p. 08.—Vieill. Ois. Dor.. tom. 1. p. 23. pl. Y
Le Colibri a cravate verte. Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. i. p. 25. pl. 10.— Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois.,
tom. vi. p. 56.—Ib. Sonn. Edit., tom. xxii. p. 277.—Ib. Pl. Enl. 621. fig. ]
Le Plastron violet, Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. i, p. 124. pl. 70?
Colibri a gorge verte de Cayenne, Buff. Pl. Enl. 671. fig. ]
Colibri du Meaxique, Buff. Pl. Enl. 580. fio, 2.
Trochilus maculatus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 488.—Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn..
part u. p. 5638.
gularis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 491.—Lath. Ind. Orn.. vol. i. p. 806.
—Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn., part li. p. 553.
marmoratus, Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn., part u. p. 567.
Polytmus dominicus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. j. p- 108, Polytmus, sp. 11.—Bonap
Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854. p. 250.
Lampornis dominicus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 71, Lampornis, sp. 2
Hypophania dominica, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.
Green-throated Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 755.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 3805
Black-breasted Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 756.—Shaw, Gen. Zool.. vol. viii

p. 298.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 302.

 

So much confusion exists respecting the synonymy of this species, that, after instituting the most rigid
examination, I am compelled to give up the attempt to unravel it, and content myself with enumerating those
terms only which, it appears to me, certainly have reference to the present bird. The state of confusion
alluded to is due to two causes : first, from Lesson and the older authors considering the species to be a
native of St. Domingo, and, secondly, in) consequence of the females of two or three species bearing a great
similarity to each other. Now I ean positively state that the bird does not inhabit St. Domingo; nor do |
believe it is to be found in any of the West India Islands, unless it be in Trinidad. and if so, that is the only
one. Its true habitat is Cayenne and Guiana, whence all our collections are supplied with examples, and
where it must be very numerous, as shown by the great number of specimens sent to Europe from those
countries.

The Lampornis gramineus is a large species, distinguished by the boldness and breadth of its markings ; it
differs from all the other members of its genus in the grass-green of its throat, a colour beautifully relieved
by the jet-black hue of its breast and abdomen. ‘The females and young males present a very different style
of colouring from that of the male, both on the under surface and in the markings of the tail, which are very

beautiful,

The male has the head and neck golden green, gradually passing into rich coppery green on the back,
wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts ; wings deep purplish brown ; throat luminous grass-green : flanks golden
green, with a tuft of white on each side; centre of the abdomen bluish black = in certain lights the entire
abdomen and flanks appear jet-black ; two centre tail-feathers bronzy purple, the remainder violet, broadly
margined and tipped with steel-blue; vent white ; under tail-coverts purplish green.

The young male has the upper surface mottled green and coppery bronze ; sides of the throat and abdomen
chestnut; on the centre of the throat a mark of luminous green, bounded on each side by white; down
the centre of the abdomen a mark of black, bounded on each side with white ; two centre tail-feathers bronzy
green ; the remainder chestnut-red with a rich bloom of purple ; crossed near the tip by a broad band, which
on the outer webs is bronzy green, on the inner steel-blue ; all but the two middle feathers tipped with greyish
white.

The female has all the upper surface and flanks golden green, the golden hue predominating on the rump
and upper tail-coverts ; throat white, with a large patch of black down the centre ; central tail-feathers bronzy
green, passing into black at the tip; the remainder chestnut-red, glossed with purple, crossed near the tip
by a broad band of bluish black and tipped with white.

The figures are of the size of life. The plant is the dosorus Je eUu0sUs.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LAMPORNIS VIRIDIS.

Blue-tailed Mango.

Le Colibri vert, Trochilus viridis, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. Dor.. tom. i. p. 34. pl. 15.

Trochilus viridis, Vieill. 2nde édit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p. 357.—Bonn. et
Vieill. Ency. Méth., Orn., part u. p. 551.—Dumont, Dict. Sei. Nat., tom. x. p. 49.
—Drapier, Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat.. tom. iv. p. 321.—Sonn. CEuvres de Buff.,
Ois., tom. xvii. p. 315.

Le Colibri cyanure, Trochilus viridis, Less. Hist. Nat. des Col.. p. 90. pl. L1.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et
Syn. des Ois. du Gen. Troch., p. LO.

Le Plastron blanc, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. Dor.. tom. i. p. 39. pl. 16, female ?

 

Ir would seem that some confusion exists respecting the synonymy of this species, for a male specimen has
been sent to me by M. Bourcier with the name of “ Lampornis cyanurus, Audebert et Vieillot” attached
to it, but I do not find that those authors have figured or described any species of this group under that
appellation ; on the other hand, it is unquestionably the bird described and figured by them and by Lesson
under the name of 7yochilus viridis. The latter author uses the term cyanure as its trivial French name,
which may, perhaps, have induced M. Bourcier to label his specimen ‘ cyanurus.”

In his account of the species, M. Lesson states that the only individual he had seen was in the Museum
of Natural History at Paris, where it had been deposited by Mauge, who had procured it in Porto Rico, one
of the Antilles.

The Lampornis viridis is in every respect a typical example of the genus; the characters of the form
being, if possible, more conspicuous in the female than in the male.

The specimen of the female from which my figure of that sex was taken was kindly presented to me by
Alfred Newton, Esq., of Elveden Hall, Norfolk, a gentleman devoted to the study of natural history
generally, but more particularly of ornithology.

The habitat of this species is certainly confined to one or two of the West Indian Islands; Maugé pro-
cured it in Porto Rico, and I have reason to believe that it is also found in St. Thomas. Its habits are
doubtless very similar to those of the other members of the genus; but | regret to say that on this point

nothing has been recorded.

The male has the head, all the upper surface of the body, and the wing-coverts of a bronzy green,
becoming of a purer green on the upper tail-coverts ; under surface shining grass-green, becoming paler on
the under tail-coverts ; wings purplish brown ; tail deep blue with green reflexions and narrowly edged at
the tip with white; bill black; feet blackish brown.

The female has the head, all the upper surface, and wing-coverts bronzy green; wings purplish brown ;
all the under surface brownish grey, tinged with green on the sides of the breast and flanks, and passing
into white on the under tail-coverts; two centre tail-feathers bronze, deepening into black at the tip; the
remainder steel-blue largely tipped with white ; those next the central ones glossed with bronze on their
outer webs, the remainder with white shafts and bases of greyish purple.

The figures in the Plate are a trifle less than the size of life. The plant is the Pitcairnia undulatifolia.

 

 

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LAMPORNIS AURULENTUS.

St. Domingo Mango.

Trochilus margaritaceus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 490 ?—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i.
p. 308.

Le Hausse-col doré, Vieill. Ois. Dor.. tom. 1. pp. 29, 31. pls. 12, 13.

Trochilus aurulentus,V ieill. Nouy. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p. 850.—Dumont, Dict. Sci. Nat..
tom. x. p. 49.—Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat.. tom. iv. p. 318.—Vieill. Eney.
Méth. Orn., part 1. p. 555.—Less. Hist. Nat. des Col.. pp. 68, 71, 73, 74. pls. 16,
17, 18, 19.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du Gen. Trochilus, p. xj.—Ib. Traité
d’Orn., p. 289.—Shaw, Gen. Zool.. vol. vin. p. 306.—Ib. Steph. Cont., vol. xiv.
p. 240.

Polytmus margaritaceus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds. vol. i. p. LOS, Polytmus, sp. 13.

aurulentus, Vieill. Hist. Nat. des Ois. de l'Am. Sept., tom. ui. p. 72.

Lampornis margaritaceus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. 5.

Eulampis aurulentus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854. p. 290.

Margarochrysis aurulenta, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.

Grey-necked Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 761.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 304.

Aurulent Humming-bird, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 806.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 307.

Trochilus dominicus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 191.—Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat.. tom. i.

p. 489.—Lath. Ind. Orn.. vol. i. p. 309, female ?
Polytmus dominicus, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 672. pl. xxxv. fig. 4, female ?
Verte perlé, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 62.—Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. i. p. 128.

Saint Domingo Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 762.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 306.

I HAVE adopted the term aurudentus for this fine species because we know positively that it has been applied

to the male bird figured on the accompanying Plate, while there is a degree of uncertainty whether margari-

faceus has reference to this or some other species. In adopting this name I am following in the steps of
Vieillot, Bonaparte, and many modern authors. The old name of dominicus would perhaps be the most

correct and appropriate one, but that term is considered by more recent writers to be referable to the
L. gramineus ; with the synonymy of the present species, in fact, as with that of Z. gramineus, the utmost
confusion prevails ; it will be better, therefore, to retain the name of aurule ntus. The native country of this
species is St. Domingo: as to Porto Rico, which it is also said to inhabit, I leave it to future Trochilidists

to say if it be found there or not: in all probability it may inhabit both those contiguous islands. but |

have no positive evidence that such is the case.
Unlike the females of most of the other species of Lampornis, which bear a general resemblance to each
other, the female of this species is very dissimilar, having the whole of her under surface grey, in lieu of

the striped and variegated style of markings which prevail in the females of LZ. Mango, L. gramineus,

L. Prevosti, &c.; this grey colouring of the under surface is, however, the only point of difference, the tail

being marked very similarly.

The male has the head, all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts dark yellowish green ; throat dull

golden green; all the under surface dull black ; a tuft of white on each flank ; wings purplish brown; two

central tail-feathers dark bronzy purple ; lateral feathers violaceous purple, bordered with dark purple.

The female has all the upper surface and two central tail-feathers bronzy green ; all the under surface
grey; lateral tail-feathers purplish chestnut, with a broad band of dull black near the tip, which is white.

The Plate represents both scXecs of the size of life. The plant is the Passiflora pe nduliflora

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LAMPO RNIS VI RGINALI S, Gould.

St. ‘Thomas’s Mango.

 

Ix my account of Lampornis aurulentus | have stated that its native country “is St. Domingo: as to Porto
Rico, which it is also said to inhabit. I leave it to future Trochilidists to say if it be found there or not.”
I am still in doubt on this point ; but since this remark was made. I have received numerous examples of a
bird from the neighbourimg island of St. Thomas, which, although bearing a general resemblance to Z.
aurulentus, differs in so many respects that I am induced to regard it as distinct, and have therefore assigned
to it the specific appellation of Z. virginalis. It is of much smaller size, has a considerably shorter, but at
the same time more brilliantly coloured tail, and the semi-luminous gorget of a much brighter hue: the
lower part of the back and the upper tail-coverts are also more brilliant; there is a smaller amount of black
on the abdomen ; and the two centre tail-feathers are rich bronzy purple instead of steely black.

I fear I have led my friend Alfred Newton, Esq. into error by causing him to consider the St. Thomas's
birds to be identical with the Z. aurulentus « if so, it was quite unintentional on my part; and my excuse
must be that I had not then seen so many specimens of this bird as are now before me, for some of which

I am indebted to his liberality, while the others were obtamed by purchase.

The male has the crown and all the upper surface bronzy green ; wings light purplish brown ; throat
shining greenish wax-yellow ; chest and centre of the abdomen black, passing into green on the flanks -
upper tail-coverts brilliant bronzy green; two centre tail-feathers rich bronze ; the remainder fine purple,
margined and tipped with bluish black ; bill black; feet dark brown.

Total length 44 inches ; bill ; wing 22; tail ls; tarsi

The female differs in the colour of the under surface, which is grey, and in the colouring and markings of
the tail, which, like those of the females of all, or nearly all the members of the genus, are very beautiful,—
the two centre tail-feathers being resplendent bronze, and the remainder barred at the base with pale
reddish, crossed near the extremity with a broad band of steel-black, and largely tipped with white; the
two next the central ones are also glossed with bronze on their outer webs.

The accompanying Plate is intended to represent two adult males and a young male of the size of life.

The plant is the Zamarindus officinalis.

 

 

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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LAMPORNIS PORPHYRURUS.

Porphyry-tailed Mango.

Trochilus porphyrurus, Shaw, Nat \lise.. vol. IX pl 333.—Ib. Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 296.—Ib.
Steph Cont., vol. XIV. p. 240.
bromicolor, Less,
Floresii, Boure. Ann. de la Soc. Sci. de Lyon, vol. ix. 1846, p.
Poluyutmus porphyrurus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. LOS, Polytmus, sp. 20
Lampornis mango, Gosse, Birds of Jamaica. p. 58.—lIhb. Ill. Birds of Jam.. pl. xVul
porphyrurus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 290.
Floresia porphyrura, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. Ll.
Lampornis flore i, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. 7.

VWango Humming-bird, var. A., Lath. Gen. Syn.., voll. ii. p. 759.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 311.

ly would scarcely be supposed that an island like Jamaica should have a large and powerful member of this
group of birds peculiar to it, yet such really appears to be the case, for up to the present time the Lam-
pornis porphyrurus has not been found elsewhere. This fine species differs so essentially from every other
known Humming-bird, that no mistake ean have occurred on this point; for not only does the male present
an entirely different style of colouring, but those birds which are considered to be the females of this species
are also as widely different. These supposed females are indeed equally, if not more brilliantly coloured
than the males, an anomaly which has much puzzled not only myself, but other Trochilidists, by one of whom,
at least, these birds have been considered so distinct that he has given them a separate appellation, that of
Flore $7.

Few travellers have written more interestingly on the Humming-birds seen by them in a state of nature than

P. H. Gosse, Esq. ; in the absence, then, of any knowledge of my own, I cannot do better than copy the fol-
lowing details respecting this species from his “ Birds of Jamaica” :-—* Though occurring at all seasons, |
have not found it abundant at any. It affects the lowlands in preference to the mountains, and open places

rather than the deep woods ; yet it is rarely seen to frequent the blossoms of herbs or shrubs. but hovers around
blossoming trees. The bunch of blossom at the summit of the pole-like Papaw-tree ( Carica papaya) is a favourite
resort, especially at sunset. This species, when flying, often flirts and flutters the tail in a peculiar manner,

and when it hangs perpendicularly in mid-air, the appearance of the broad lustrous feathers, expanded like a

fan, is particularly beautiful. The lustrous glow of the neck of the adult male may be unperceived on a care-
less examination. In such Humming-birds as I have examined, the tridescence of those portions of the

plumage that are changeable Is splendid in the ratio of the acuteness of the angle formed by the incident
ray of light and the reflected one. I have never met with the nest of this species, but one presented to me
by my friend Mr. Hill is now before me. It has evidently been constructed to stand upon a horizontal twig,
which the bottom has embraced. — It is cylindrical externally, the bottom being flat. Its height is 14 inch:
its external diameter a little more ; its internal diameter about Linch: the hollow, which is a little overhung
by the margin, is cup-shaped, about iths of an inch deep. It is composed almost entirely of the down of
antic silk-cotton tree (riodendron anfractuosum), intermixed at the bottom with a little true cotton.

the gig

= ie

The sides are tightly banded round with the threads of spiders’ webs, very neatly put on, and the whole
exterior is studded with a minute whitish lichen, so profusely as almost entirely to conceal the down, without
at all injuring the symmetry of the form. It is a most compact and beautiful little structure.”

! am indebted to Mr. Gosse for the cift of a nest of this species, I believe the one described above, and

which is figured on the accompanying Plate.

The male has the general plumage dark olivaceous brown, glossed with purple ; from the bill through the
eye, down each side of the neck, a brilliant purple band ; throat and abdomen blackish brown: a few white
fathers at the lower part of the abdomen, and on each flank a small patch of white ; wings purplish brown :
two centre tail feathers bronzy black ; the lateral ones changeable purple, margined at the tip with bronzy
black.

Female similar, but with a mark of changeable purplish green down the throat.

The Plate represents the two S@XeCs of the size ot life The plant is the Pachystigma ple be odes

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
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EULAMPIS JUGULA RIS.

Purple-breasted Carib.

Le Colibri a gorge carmin, Buff. Hist. Nat. des ( is. dor., tom. vi. p. 56.—Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor..
tom. 1. p. 126.—Sonn. Edit. Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois.. tom. Xvi. p. 219.
Red-hreasted Humming-bird, Edw. Glean. in Nat. Hist... pt. ii. pl. 266. fig. 1.—Lath. Gen. Syn.,
vol. ii. p. 753.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p- 288. pl. 39.—Lath. Gen. Hist.. vol. iv.
p. 301,
Trochilus jugularis, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 190.—Ib. Gmel. Edit.. tom. i. p. 459.—Lath.
Ind. Orn., vol. i. p- 305.—Temm. Man. d’Orn. 2nde Edit., tom. i. p. Lexxiy.
Eulampis jugularis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Ay., p- 72, Eulampis, sp. 1.—Reichenb. Aufz. der
Colibris, m EAs Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. L854, p. 250.
Polytmus jugularis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, voll. i. p. LOS, Polytmus, sp. 19.
Le Grenat, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p- 48.—Ib. Sonn. Edit., tom. xxii. p. 219.—Aud. et
Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. poids pl. 4.—Vieill. Dict. Sci. Nat., tom. x. p.51.—Drapiez,
Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat., tom. iv. p- 318.—Dumont, Dict. Sei. Nat.. tom. x. p. Ol.
Trochilus auratus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 487.—Less. Hist. Nat. des Col., p. 46.
pl. 10.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du gen. Trochilus. p. Vii.
granatinus, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 752. pl. 34.—Ib. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 305.
Bancrofti, Lath. Ind. Orn.. vol. . p. 317.
eyanomelas, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 498.
violaceus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 488.—Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 685.—
Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn., part 2. p. 552. pl. 129. fig. 4.
Auritus, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part 2. p. 555. pl. 130. fig. 2.
Le Colibri violet, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois.. tom. vi. p. 97.—Ib. Pl. Enl. 600. fig. 1.—Aud. et
Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 126.
Black and blue Humming-bird, Bancr. Hist. of Guiana. p. 167.—Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 782.
—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 337.
Le noir bleu, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor.. tom. i. p. 116.
Polytmus Cayanensis violaceus, Briss. Orn., vol. iii. p. 683. pl. xxxv. fig. 3.
Topaza violacea, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Topaza, sp. 2.
Le Colibri a gorge grenat, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 126.
Garnet-throated Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 752. pl. 34.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv.
p. 800. pl. lxxv, & var. A, B.
Certhia prasinoptera, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 800.—Mus. Carls., pl. 81.
Le Souimanga prasinoptere, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. ii. p. 65.
Green-winged Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl., vol. ii. p. 163.
Cynanthus? jugularis, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds, vol. ii. p. 145.
Trochilus cyaneus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 309.
venustissimus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 490.

Crimson-headed Blue Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ul. p- (62.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol =

p. 317.

 

Tuere are at least three well-known species of the present form, all of which inhabit the West Indian Islands,

and one of them—the bird here figured—is said by some authors to extend its range to Guiana and Surinam :

but that it is ever found in those countries appears to me to be somewhat uncertain, for I have never yet

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ither of them; it is much more likely that it is a native of Martinique, since
. . ° 5 = . ;

e certainly killed in the neighbouring island of Nevis. I have, moreover

Z ’

in Upper Canada, but who formerly

reference to his memoranda of the

received examples direct from e
I have seen specimens which wer
received a letter from T. J. Cottle, Esq., a gentleman now living
the last-mentioned island, in which he states, that on

resided in
rved by him in Nevis, he found that he sent a pair, male and female, to the British

Humming-birds obse
Museum in 1839, and requests me to examine them ; this I have accordingly done, and I am now enabled

to state from actual inspection that they are referable to the present species. These details may appear
trivial, but it is really of importance to ascertain which of the Islands are inhabited by certain species of
Humming-birds. Nevis then is one of the homes of this very beautiful bird; so beautiful indeed is it, and
so distinct from every other known species, that it is an especial favourite with all collectors. It is by no

means a rare bird, as is evidenced by the low price at which skins may be purchased; for a few shillings

each, the collector may obtain from any of the Parisian dealers as many of the finest examples as he

may wish.
I regret to say, that although the bird has been so long known, and so heavily burdened with synonyms
>

no information as to its true habitat, nor any account of its actions and manners, has been placed on record
r

J 1 ~ . ‘ 6c Ff 1 1o ‘ x s :

Mr. Cottle states that ‘it inhabits the high lands of the island of Nevis, above the belt of cultivation, and

. . ?

that it never descends to the low grounds unless driven down by a hurricane or some other unusual cause.”
r . . ° . Se.
The other two species noticed on the island by this gentleman are the Lulampis chlorolemus and Orth

rhynchus cristatus. -

There is positively no difference ir rj ces : :
1 y ‘e in the colouring of the sexes: some examples are smaller, and have more

curved bills than others ; these may be females, but this is by no means certain

Head, upper surface of the body, flanks and abdomen deep velvety-black ; wing-coverts and wings elit

tering green; upper and under tail-coverts very much developed, and of a shining glaucous- reat a

exceedingly dark green ; chin, throat and chest deep vinous-purple ;_ bill black ; fest: apuaeenl a .
In the accompanying Plate, I have attempted to represent this bird as accurately as ae : ae ft

all, I find, to my regret, that it conveys only a faint idea of its beauty. _
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Mymphea Amazonum.

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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KULAMPIS HOLOS ERICEUS.
Green-breasted Carib.

Trochilus holosericeus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 191.—Ib. Gmel. Edit., tom. i. p. 491.—Lath.
Ind. Orn.., vol. 1. p. 305, Less. Hist. Nat. des Col., p. 76. pl. 20. Ib. Traité d’Orn..,
p. 291.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du gen. Trochilus. p. x1.— Dumont de St.
Croix, Dict. Sci. Nat.. tom. x. p. 50. Drap. Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat., tom. iv.
p. 319.

Polytmus Mevicanus, Briss. Orn.. tom. ill. p. 676. pl. xxxv. fig. 2.—Id., 8vo. tom. ii. p. 22.

Black-bellied green Humming-bird, Edw. Nat. Hist. of Birds, vol. i. pl. 36. fig. 1.—Lath. Gen.
Syn., vol. ii. p. 754.—Shaw, Gen. Zool.. vol. viii. p. 807.— Lath. Gen. Hist , vol. iv.
p. 313.

Trochilus aurigaster, Shaw.

Le Colibri vert et noir, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 53.

Le vert et noir, Aud. et Viecill. Ois. dor.. tom. i. p. 19. pl. 6.

Le Colibri a ventre noir. Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. L119. pl. 65.

Black-bellied American Humming-bird, Bancr. Hist. of Guiana. p. 169.

Polytmus holosericeus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- LO8, Polytmus, sp. 14.

Eulampis holosericeus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Eulampis, sp. 2.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de
Zool. 1854, p. 250.

Sericotes holosericeus, Reich. Aufz. der ( ‘ol., p. LI.

 

“Tats Humming-bird,” says M. Lesson, ‘so well characterized and so beautiful. lives exclusively in the
islands of the Antilles, and is never found in Mexico. The numerous examples we have examined in the
collections of M. Florent Prévost, and in that of the Museum of Paris. were procured in the islands of
St. Thomas and Porto Rico, whence they were sent by Maugé, and also from Martinique. These localities
justify the name of Caribs which we have conventionally assigned to the birds of this form.” To these
observations of M. Lesson, I have unfortunately nothing to add, except that I quite agree with him in
believing the bird to be strictly confined to the Caribbean Islands, and that it neither inhabits Mexico nor
any other part of the American continent.

In its general structure, and especially in the form of its wings and tail, it is closely allied to the more
beautiful Eulampis gugularis ; the disposition of its colouring, too, is very similar, although in some parts of
a different hue: in the luminosity of the wings, however, the jugularis stands alone, differing as it does
not only from this, but from every other species.

The pertect similarity in the colouring of the sexes renders the members of this little genus very

conspicuous among the 7rochilide.

Head, all the upper surface and wing-coverts reddish-green ; wings purplish-brown ; upper and under
tail-coverts largely developed aud of a glittering blue, some of the feathers changing to green; tail black,

with steel-blue reflexions : chin, throat and breast golden grass-green: on the centre of the chest a patch
of shining blue; flanks and abdomen velvety-black ; bill black; feet blackish-brown.

The figures are the size of life. The plant is the Pachystigma Pteleoides.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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EKULAMPIS CHLOROLAMUS, Gowa.

Grass-green-breasted Carib.

Eulampis chlorolemus, Gould, MSS. L851.
Nericotes chlorolaimus. Reichenb. Autz. der Colibris, p- ‘i.

Eulampis chlorolemus, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.

 

Some Trochilidists might be inclined to doubt the specific value of this Caribbean Humming-bird, and to
regard it as a mere variety of the Eulampis holosericeus, but had they as many specimens as I have to examine
and form an opinion from, I believe they would come to the same conclusion as myself, and consider it to be
distinct. ‘The principal difference between the 2. chlorolemus and E. holosericeus consists in the former
having a deeper and less luminous green throat, and the blue patch on the breast dilated into a band of blue
extending across the chest; the former is also a larger and stouter bird than the latter. These differences
are much more apparent in the mounted specimens in my collection, where at least six of each kind are
placed side by side in one of the cases.

Like the E. Aolosericeus, the present bird is an inhabitant of the Caribbean Islands, but of which, and how
many of them, no certain information has been received, further than that a specimen, now in the British
Museum, was collected in the island of Nevis, by T. J. Cottle, Esq., who informs me that it inhabits the low
grounds of the island, and that it builds a round compact nest, and lays the usual two white eggs.

I have not failed to remark, while mounting my specimens of the genus, that their skins are particularly

thick and strong, even approaching the toughness and substance of leather in the /. jugudaris.

Head, all the upper surface and wing-coverts reddish-green ; wings purplish-brown; upper and under
tail-coverts largely developed and of a glittering blue, some of the feathers changing to green; tail black,
with steel-blue reflexions: chin, throat and chest grass-green ; across the breast a broad band of blue; flanks

and abdomen velvety-black ; bill black ; feet blackish-brown.

The figures are of the size of life. The plant is the St monacanthus macrophyllus.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LAFRESNAYA FLAVICAUDATA.

Buff-tailed Velvyet-breast.

Trochilus flavicaudatus, Fras. in Proc. of Zool. Soc.. part vill. p. 18

Lafresnayi, Boiss. Rev. Zool. L848, p. o.
Calothorax Lafresnayi, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Calothorax, sp. 1.
Lafresnaya flavicaudatus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 65, Lafre snaya, Sp. |

flavicaudata, Reich. Aufz.der Col., p. 1 1.—Bonap. Rev.et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 252.

 

Nor only are the Columbian Andes most fertile in species of Humming-birds, but, in many instances, forms
there occur which do not exist elsewhere; and the genus Lafres vaya may be cited as ous of such genera,
of which two, if not three, well-defined species have been discovered, and which are true Andean birds.
Although the extent of the range enjoyed by the present species has not been accurately ascertained, we
know that it plays a couspicuous part in bird-life in the neighbourhood of Bogota and other parts of
Columbia. I have not, however, seen specimens from Popayan, Quito, or Ecuador, yet M. Warszewicz
collected examples in Peru, a country still farther south.

It will be seen that the present bird has been twice described, and it is to be regretted that the name of
Latresnayi cannot be retained as its specific appellation, as no one is more worthy of having a beautiful bird
dedicated to him than the worthy and amiable Baron de la Fresnaye : his name will, however, in spite of
this contretle mps, he handed down to posterity not only as the author of many valuable papers on Ornithology,
but as the individual in honour of whom the present genus has been entitled Lafresnaya.

The females, and especially the young males, of this species present a beautifully spangled character of
markings, which become most glittering and attractive when the breasts of the birds are so placed as to
receive the direct rays of light, and contrast strongly when compared with the green throat and velvety

breast of the male.

The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, wing- and upper tail-coverts dark green: wings
rich purplish-brown ; throat, breast, upper part of the abdomen and flanks very dark shining grass-green ;
low er part of the abdomen velvety-black : two central tail-feathers of a bronzy hue, the remainder yellowish-
buff; the apical two-thirds of the outer web, and the tip of the inner web, of the external feather purplish-
brown: the remainder with an arrow-shaped mark of bronzy-brown at the tip, broadest on the external web,
and lessening in extent as the feathers approach the centre; under tail-coverts bronzy-green, with white
bases ; bill blackish-brown, the under mandible somewhat lighter.

In the young males, and in the females, the bronze tipping to the tail-feathers is much more extensive,
and the buff is of a somewhat deeper tint ; the under surface is white, or buffy-white, with a spangle of glit-
tering green at the tip of each feather.

Both sexes are figured on the accompanying Plate. on the Sodrala sessilis.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LAFRESNAYA GAYI.

White-tailed Velvet-breast.

one “—?
Trochilus Gayi, Bourc. et Muls. Ann. de la Soc. Sei. de Lyon, tom. ix. 1846. p. 325

Saule, Bourc. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 309,

~.

Calothoraa Gay, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Calothorazx. sp. 2
Saul, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Calothorax, sp. 3.
Lafresnaya gayi, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 68, Lafresnaya, sp. 2.—Reich. Aufz. der Col.,

p- 11.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854. p. 252

Saule. Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.., p. 68, Lafresnaya, sp. 3.
Saul, Reich. Aufz. der Col.. S. Es.

Tue present is a somewhat larger species than the Lafresnaya flavicaudata, and, if 1 mistake not, will be
considered even more beautiful in its colouring, its pure white tail-feathers offering a greater contrast to the
velvety-black of the abdomen, and the green colouring of the breast being still more resplendent. In my
account of LZ. flaricaudata,\ stated that that bird was a native of Columbia, while Ecuador and Peru lay chim
to the bird here represented—Z. Gayi. It was in Quito that the greater number of the specimens in my
collection were procured ; the remainder are from Peru.

It will be observed that, like the Z. flavicaudata, this species has been honoured with two specific appel-
lations—Gay: and Saule, both of which were applied to it by M. Bourcier. I have, however, looked in
vain for any character in his descriptions by which the opinion that they apply to two distinct birds can be
substantiated. When describing Seu/e, M. Bourcier stated that it was somewhat larger than the Geyi. but
I believe he now admits that both terms have reference to the same bird; however, should a further
accession of examples induce a contrary conclusion, I shall be happy to rectify the error.

The present species, which has been dedicated to Dr. Gay, so well known for his scientific explorations
in Chili, is much more rare than the LZ. flavicaudata. Of its habits and actions, which | suspect are
rather peculiar, nothing whatever is known.

The term Sau/e was given as a compliment to the daughter of Mr. Saul, the conchologist.

The male has the head, all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts golden-green ; wings rich purple-
brown; throat, chest and flanks shining deep grass-green ; abdomen velvety-black; under tail-coverts
bronzy-green, with white bases; two centre tail-feathers greenish-bronze ; lateral tail-feathers white, with
an arrowhead-shaped mark at the tip of each, broadest on the outer web, largest and most conspicuous on
the external feather, and gradually lessening towards the central ones.

In the young male the tipping of the tail-feathers is much more extensive, and, except on the outer feather,
is bronzy instead of purplish-brown, and the under surface is white, with a spangle of glittering green at
the tip of each feather.

The female has the upper surface of a more bronzy hue, and the under surface white, spangled with bronze
instead of green.

The Plate represents the birds of the natural size. The plant is the Sciodacalyx Warszewiczii.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DORIFERA JOHANN A.

Blue-fronted Lance-Bill.

Trochilus Johanne, Bourc. in Proc. of Zool. Soc.. Part xv. p. 45.—Ib. Rev. de Zool. 1847 p. 257
Mellisuga Johanne, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 20
Trochilus Doryfera violifrons, Gould in Proe. of Zool. Soc., Part xv » 95

Dorifera johanna, Bonap. Consp. Gren. Av.. p. OS, Dorifera, sp. 2

 

Ix figuring this rare and truly curious species, I feel assured that I shall give pleasure to those who make

the Humming-Birds their particular study, inasmuch as it is not only one of the rarest, but one of the most
singular members of the entire group. It is to the rich country of the Columbian and Peruvian Andes that
we are indebted for this interesting bird. In its form it is precisely like the D. Ludoricie, but in its
colouring it is widely different, the metallic forehead being rich violet-blue instead of green, and the under

surface velvety black instead of bronzy green; besides which it also differs in being of a smaller size.

M. Bourcier has given this bird the specific appellation of Johanne, in memory of a daughter of the late
Mr. George Loddiges.

The specimen from which he took his description was sent by Mr. Mathews from Peru; the two in my
own collection, which appear to be male and female, are from Santa Fé de Bogota; these latter differ ome

the former in having the whole of the under surface black, without any of the grey on the throat as described

by M. Bourcier, which grey colouring may probably be only a mark of immaturity.

Forehead metallic violet ; nape, back of the neck and upper part of the back bronzy green, passing into
the purer green of the back and wing-coverts ; rump and upper tail-coverts dull greyish blue; throat and
abdomen black, with green reflexions; under tail-coverts deep violet-blue; wings purplish brown; tail

black, slightly glossed with green, and with a trace of bronzy brown on the tips of the three lateral feathers ;

bill black; feet brown.
In the second specimen, which I believe to be a female, the bronzy tips of the lateral tail-feathers are

larger and more conspicuous, especially on the under surface.
It will be seen, that, like M. Bourcier, I had recognized the specific value of this bird, and had charac-

terized it as distinct under the name of riolifrons; but his name having the priority, my own must sink into

a synonym.

The figures are of the size of life.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
DORIFERA LUDOVICIA.

Green-fronted Lance-Bill.

Trochilus Ludoviciea, Bourc. et Muls. in Ann. de la Soc. Roy. d’Agric. &ec. de Lyon. 1847,
p. 136. , |

Mellisuga Ludovicia, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 19

Dorifera ludovicie, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 68, Dorifera, sp. |

 

NaTurauists often assume the privilege of honouring individuals by naming remarkable species after
them, and although this practice is by no means to be commended, it is one which may readils be excused
when exercised in favour of those whose names are favourably known in the ann ils of scl Ce 3 ba the pre sent
instance it has been employed with singular appropriateness to do honour, through his wife, to M. Isidore
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, whose fame as a scientific naturalist is familiar to every one.

The Dorifera Ludovicie is remarkable for its short and robust body, the length of its wings, and the
straight, sharp, needle-like form of its bill, features in its structure which doubtless in some way modify its
habits ; probably the peculiar shape of the bill is especially fitted for procuring its insect food from the
smaller kinds of tubular flowers, or from among the prickly spines of the Cacti, tribes of plants which
abound in the country frequented by the bird. Like many other rarities, this species is a native of New
Grenada, and particularly the neighbourhood of Santa Fé de Bogota, from whence alone I believe up to this
time specimens have been received; but whether it is a native of the upland or lowland districts of the
country is unknown.

All the examples that have come under my notice have been alike in colour, which induces me to beliew

that there is no difference in the colouring of the sexes: but this of course is uncertain.

Forehead luminous metallic green; crown of the head and nape coppery bronze; back and wing-coverts
dark bronzy green, passing into bluish green on the upper tail-coverts ; wings purplish brown: tail black,
tipped with brownish grey, slightly on the two middle and largely on the lateral feathers: under surface
dark bronzy green with a tinge of grey; under tail-coverts grey, with reflexions of bluish green; bill black -
feet fleshy-brown.

The figures are of the size of lif

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
HYPUROPTILA BUFFONI.

Buffon’s Plumeleteer.

Trochilus Buffonii, Less. Les Troch., p. 31. pl. 5.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. du Gen. Trochilus,
p- 12.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds, vol. ii. p. 98. pl. 19.

Polytmus Buffon, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 17.

Lampornis buffon, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. 9.—Ib. Consp. Troch. in
Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.

 

Since 1831, when this species was first described by M. Lesson, who was not at the time aware of its true
habitat, but supposed it might be Brazil, hundreds of examples have been sent to Europe, and it has con-
sequently become one of the commonest birds in our collections. The greater portion of these specimens
have been received from two sources, namely, Bogota and the Caraccas. The bird is strictly a hill species,
and Mr. Mark informs me that Bogota specimens are generally collected about ‘‘ La Mesa” or the table
mountain, and near the village of San Antonio, both localities being about six or seven thousand feet above
the sea-level, and about a day’s ride from Bogota. Besides being found in the places above mentioned, I
believe that the species is very generally spread over Columbia, and that it even enters Veragua.

The females of this and the other members of the genus are very different from the males, and offer a
striking resemblance to the females of the various species of the genus Thalurania.

The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface and wing-coverts bronzy green; upper tail-
coverts more bronzy ; central tail-feathers dark greenish bronze, the remainder bluish black, margined
externally at the base with dark greenish bronze ; wings purplish brown; the whole of the under surface of
a lively emerald-green, each feather finely fringed with greyish white, giving the whole a scale-like appear-
ance; under tail-coverts snow-white, and so largely developed as to form conspicuous plumes.

Specimens from the Caraccas have the bill somewhat more curved; the feathers of the crown of the
head edged with brown; and the green of the under surface of a softer and more mealy hue.

The upper surface of the female is similar to that of the male; the two central tail-feathers bronzy green,
the remainder bluish black, margined at the base of the outer web with bronzy green, which lessens in
extent as the feathers recede from the centre, the outer feather tipped with white, the next on each side
with a diamond-shaped spot of white at the tip; under surface light grey with a few specks of green on the
flanks ; under tail-coverts large and white, as in the male.

The figures are of the size of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
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HY PUROPTILA UROCHRYSIA, Goua.

Golden-tailed Plumeleteer.

Hypuroptila urochrysia, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., May 14, 1861.

 

I possxss a single example of this new species of Hypuroptila, which was shot by M. Warszewicz in the
neighbourhood of Panama; but the precise locality I have not been able to ascertain. I have delayed
describing this bird until the present moment (May 1861), in the hope of receiving other examples, and
of obtaining some information respecting its habits and economy. In point of size it is about equal to the
H. Buffoni, to which it also bears a close resemblance in the plumage of the body; its rich golden-bronzy
tail will, however, always distinguish it from that and every other known species. I have no doubt that I
have placed the bird in the right genus, although the under tail-coverts are not so fully developed in my
specimen as in HZ. Buffoni or H. ceruleogaster ; this, however, I conceive to be due to imperfection, occa-
sioned by some of them having been lost in the process of skinning, rather than to any other cause.

Tam unable to say if any difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes; but if we may judge from
analogy, the female will be found to resemble those of H. Buffoni and H. ceruleogaster.

Head and upper surface dark green, becoming of a bronzy hue on the wing- and tail-coverts ; wings
purplish brown ; tail rich golden bronze both above and beneath ; throat and breast grass-green ; abdomen
bronzy green ; thighs, vent, and under tail-coverts pure white ; upper mandible black, lower mandible fleshy
red with a black tip; tarsi either yellow or flesh-colour.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Pitcairnia undulatifolia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

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HYPUROPTILA CASRULEOGASTER, Gow.

Blue-breasted Plumeleteer.

Trochilus (Glaucis?) ceruleogaster, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XV. p. 96.

Polytmus ceruleogaster, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 108, Polytmus, sp. 18.

Lampornis ceruleigaster, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 72, Lampornis, sp. 10.—Ib. Consp.
Troch. in Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p- 250.

 

So closely do the Hypuroptila ceruleogaster and H. Buffoni assimilate to each other, both in size and in
general conformation, that it becomes difficult to divest oneself of the belief that they are merely varieties
of one and the same species; but in contradiction to such an opinion, I may state that I have never seen
specimens in any intermediate state of colouring, and that the young males at the age when the scaly breast-
feathers are assumed for the first time, are blue and not green. I may also mention that while we know
the Hypuroptila Buffoni to be very widely dispersed, the ZH. ceruleogaster has up to the present time only
been found in a very limited area, most of the specimens that have reached this country being either from
Bogota, or the country intervening between that city and Popayan.

Mr. Mark tells me that this species inhabits the Andean ranges at an elevation of from six to seven
thousand feet, and that, like its ally, it obtains its insect food from the flowers of the shrub-like trees of the
table-lands.

The sexes, as will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, are very different both in size and
colour.

The male has the head and upper surface grass-green, with a wash of bronze at the back of the neck and
on the upper tail-coverts ; chin and sides of the neck bluish green, gradually merging into the beautiful blue
of the centre of the breast and abdomen; lower part of the flanks and abdomen green; under tail-coverts
white and largely developed; wings purplish brown; tail black with steel-blue reflexions ; bill black.

The upper surface of the female and the under tail-coverts are the same as in the male; her under surface
is light grey with a few specks of green on the flanks; two central tail-feathers bronzy green, the remainder
bluish black, margined at the base of the outer web with bronzy green, lessening in extent as the feathers
recede from the centre, the outer feather tipped with white, the next on each side with a diamond-shaped

spot of white at the tip.
The figures represent a male and a female of the natural size. The plant is the Mematanthus conema.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

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Emerald-fronted Humming-Bird.

Jinolaima frontalis, Gawy.in Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. vi. p. 263.

 

7 Rate Ara ve Reeds Bs nist ne ee ‘ : ;

Waen I first received this fine bird from Mr. Lawrence of New York, a question arose in my mind as to
whether it were not the 7, Schretbersi in a more fully adult state of plumage than I had yet seen; I was the
more inclined to think this might be the case from the circumstance of one of Mr. Lawrence’s specimens,
which is evidently immature, being so like the Z. Schreibersi that it is difficult to say to which species the
individual pertains. The differences between the I. frontalis and I. Schreibersi are these :—the bill is shorter
and straighter in the former than in the latter; the green mark on the face is much brighter and better
defined ; the throat and ear-coverts are black and without a trace of the buff stripe seen in the J. Schreibersi ;
the tail is rather longer and somewhat more forked, and the under tail-coverts are steely black instead of
dark green. I may add, that all the specimens of I. Schreibersé contained in the public museums of Vienna,
Paris, and London, as well as those in the private collections of Paris and in my own, are similar to the
bird figured by me as J. Schrecbersi, which tends to prove that these exhibit the adult state of that species,
and consequently that Mr. Lawrence is right in considering his bird as distinct ; and it gives me great
pleasure to figure so splendid a bird under the name assigned to it by so valued a friend to myself
and to science as Mr. Lawrence.

The following is Mr. Lawrence’s description and account of this species, which I give in his own
words :—

‘On the forehead, immediately adjoining the bill, is a diamond-shaped spot of bright metallic green ;
upper plumage and wing-coverts dark green, grass-green on the head, but with a golden shade on the back ;
upper tail-coverts dark green; tail deep stecl-blue, extreme tips of the two central feathers green; wings
purplish brown, outer edge of first primary chestnut; chin, cheeks, and upper part of throat black ;
ear-coverts bronzed green; on the throat is a gorget (rather circular in form) of shining violet-purple ;
adjoining this, and occupying the upper part of the breast, is a band of metallic green, of the same shade as
the frontal spot; sides dark green, similar in colour to the back; lower part of the breast and abdomen of
the same deep black as the throat; under tail-coverts steel-blue ; bill black ; feet brownish black.

«In one specimen, not fully mature, the frontal spot is wanting, and the bright feathers on the throat are
only partially developed ; there is a line of bright rufous feathers running from the bill under the eye; in
all other respects precisely like the adult.

‘Length 5+ inches; bill 2; wing 3; tail 2.

“« Habitat. Ecuador.

“This makes the second species of this genus, and is even a handsomer bird than Schreibersi, which it
much resembles; it is, however, larger, and differs in having an emerald spot on the forehead; in the
adult being destitute of a buff line on the sides of the head; in having the centre of the abdomen black,
and the tail more deeply forked, the outer feathers being over an inch longer than the middle ones, whereas
in Schreibersi the difference is but half an inch. The latter bird differs also in having the central tail-
feathers green.

“The above-described Humming-bird forms part of the collection (now in my possession) made by
Mr. Wm. E. Moore in his recent travels in South America. The subjoined extract from one of his letters
will give the locality where they were obtained :—

«<The Humming-birds I gave you were all collected between the head-waters of the nua and Quito this
journey was performed on foot, 300 miles through a dense forest, at the base of the Bolivian Andes.

The figure is of the size of life. The plant is the Gadlandria Devoniana.

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IONOLAIMA SCHREIBERSI, Gould.

Schreibers’ Humming-bird.

Trochilus Schreibersii, Lodd. MSS., Boure. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xv. p. 43.—Ib. Rev. de
Zool. 1847, p. 255.

Calothorax ? Schreibersii, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Calothoraz, sp. 4.

Thalurania Schrebersi, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p: 77, Thalurania, sp. 9.

Lonolaima Schreibersii, Reich. Aufz. der Col., p- 9.

Campylopterus schreibersi, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p- 250.

 

Tux Jonolaima Schreiberst is a native of the central and very remote parts of South America; hence it is a
species of considerable rarity, and but seldom seen in collections. It was for a long time a unique bird in
England, the only specimen known being the single one contributed to the Loddigesian Collection by the
late Mr. John Natterer of Vienna, who collected it on the upper part of the Rio Negro: the specimens of
both sexes in my own collection were procured on the Napo, and these are the only countries from which I
have yet seen examples. It certainly does not occur at Quito or at Bogota, but that it ranges rather widely
over the countries skirting the eastern dip of the Andes of Ecuador in Peru, is more than probable ; still,
strange to say, it was not one of the birds sent by Mr. Hauxwell from the Ucayali. Had not my good friend
Natterer been so suddenly called from among us, after his return from his eighteen years’ explorations in
South America, something would doubtless have been recorded respecting the habits and manners of this
fine bird, which was dedicated by his desire to his friend Schreibers, the Director of the Imperial Museum

of Natural History at Vienna.

The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts and flanks green ; wings
purplish-brown ; central tail-feathers greenish-blue, remainder dark steel-blue ; from the angle of the bill on
each side a buff moustache; chin deep black, at the base of which is a patch of lovely purple, succeeded by
a band of shining metallic green; centre of the abdomen very dark brown, glossed with green ; bill black ;

feet dark brown.
The female has the upper surface bronzy-green ; two outer feathers of the tail on each side dull steel-blue

tipped with grey, the remainder bronze; all the under surface grey, with a crescent of glittering green at
the tip of each feather ; on the side of the face an indistinct greyish-white moustache.

The Plate represents the sexes of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 

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HELIODOXA J ACULA, Gowia.

Green-crowned Brilliant.

Hehodoxa jacula, Gould in Proce. of Zool. Soc., part xvii. 1849, p- 96.

Leadbeatera jacula, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p: 70, Leadbeatera, sp. 1.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de
Zool. 1854, p. 251.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Cal, p: %

 

In vain have I laboured to represent in the accompanying illustration the gorgeous metallic lustre pervading
nearly the whole of the plumage of this wonderful bird, which, when flying, must present the appearance
of a moving mass of brilliant light, almost too dazzling for the eye to dwell upon; so resplendent, indeed, is
it, that no art can depict or description convey its true portraiture.

The entire crown and all the under surface are alike luminous, but the green colouring of those parts is
relieved by a throat-mark of equally luminous blue; while the dull green, tinged with rust-red, of the
remainder of the plumage serves as a contrast, and to show off those parts which are metallic. In form this
bird is as graceful as its colouring is brilliant; its bill is moderately long, and well proportioned when
compared with the body ; the wing is rather ample, and the tail long and forked.

The native country of this fine bird is the Columbian Andes, specimens having been received from Santa
Fé de Bogota and Popayan ; in all probability its range extends to Ecuador. It is by no means a common
species, and its discovery is of very recent occurrence.

The upper figure in the accompanying Plate represents a bird which I believe to be a female of this species ;
this, however, is somewhat uncertain ; but I am confident that the females of Z. jacula and H. Leadbeateri
are very similar, and that the bird I have figured is the female of one or the other.

The male has the crown of the head, breast and abdomen resplendent metallic green ; in the centre of
the throat a crescentic mark of metallic blue; the metallic green of the crown running to a point towards
the occiput ; back of the neck, back, and upper wing-coverts bronzy green; under wing-coverts and flanks
grass-green ; wings purplish brown; upper tail-coverts purplish brown with green reflexions; under tail-
coverts dark brown with green reflexions ; tail considerably forked and of a bluish black; thighs and tarsi
white; feet blackish brown; bill black.

The female has the crown of the head and upper surface green ; throat shining metallic green, the white
bases of the feathers showing through and giving the throat a speckled appearance ; tail bluish black, tipped
with white; in some specimens the lores are buff, and a line of the same hue extends beneath the eye ;
thighs white; under tail-coverts dull green ; bill black.

The figures are of the natural size. The beautiful Orchid is the Cattleya maxima, partly taken from
Curtis’s “ Botanical Magazine,” a work replete with interest, both for the accuracy of the drawings and the

scientific character of the letterpress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
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HELIODOXA JAMESONI.

Jameson’s Brilliant.

Trochilus Jamersoni, Bourc. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1851, p- 97.—Ib. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad.
Sci., tom. xxxii. ps7:

Leadbeatera Jamersoni, Reich. Auf. der Col., p. 7.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 251.
Coeligena Jamersoni, Reich. Troch. Enum., p. 4.

Helhodoxa Jamesoni, Sclater in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 94.—Cab. Mus. Hein.,
Theil iii. p. 22, note.

 

One of the very finest Humming-Birds discovered during the last twenty years is the one I have called
Hetodowxa jacula, which inhabits Bogota or its neighbourhood. To this species the bird here represented,
which was brought from Ecuador by M. Bourcier, is only second in beauty. Since that gentleman’s visit,
many other examples have been collected, the greater number of which have found their way into my own
cabinet; but the person by whom and the immediate locality in which they were procured are equally
unknown to me. The specimens sent to England by Mr. Fraser during his sojourn in Quito are stated to
have been collected at Nanegal. Perhaps, in Popayan or its neighbourhood, the two species jacula and
Jamesoni, which are very nearly allied, will be found to inosculate ; at all events, up to this time the former
-has not been found in Ecuador, nor the latter in Columbia.

In the naming of this bird after Professor Jameson of Quito, M. Bourcier has my entire acquiescence,
since by so doing he will have assisted in perpetuating a name which will ever stand conspicuous among
those who have largely contributed to the promotion of natural history. Happily for science, Professor
Jameson has long been located at Quito, the capital of one of the richest portions of the New World,
both in a zoological and botanical point of view, and few persons have more zealously exerted themselves
to make us acquainted with the productions of any country than this gentleman. For myself, I have
especial pleasure in recording my great obligations to him for the kind and friendly spirit in which he
has ever afforded me all the assistance in his power in furtherance of my works on this and two other groups
of South American birds.

The Heliodoxa Jamesoni is a larger and more robust bird than the HW. yacu/a, and has on the crown of
the head a spear-shaped mark of beautiful glittering green, bounded on each side with jet-black when viewed
in front, while in H. yacuda the entire crown is glittering green ; the brilliancy of the green crown, as well as
that of the under surface, is also less than in that species. ‘The two birds moreover differ in the colouring of
their two central tail-feathers, those of H. jacuda being generally of a bronzy hue, while those of H. Jamesoni
are as generally black; the tail, too, of the former is longer and more forked than that of the latter.

The male has a broad spear-shaped mark of glittering green on the crown, bordered on each side by a
mark of velvety black ; behind the eye a small spot of white; chin, sides of the neck and bree glittering
green, with a patch of shining steel-blue in the centre of the throat ; all the upper surface and wing-coverts
dark green, washed with bronze at the back of the neck and on the upper tall-covertss wings very dark
purplish brown ; under surface bronzy green ; tail black, with steel-blue reflexions ; bill black; feet blackish

brown.

The female has the head and all the upper surface shining bronzy green ; behind the eye a small spot of

white ; the under surface creamy white, with a crescent of shining green at OTe ee

streak of white from the base of the lower mandible ; wings and tail as in the male.
The Plate represents both sexes about the size of life. The plant 1s the ecaina uae

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HELIODOXA OTERO.

Otero Brilliant.

Trochilus Otero, Tschudi, Consp. Av., No. 212.—Ihb. Faun. Peruana, p. 39, tab. xxiii. fig. 2.
Leadbeatera otero, Reichenb. Auf. der Col., p. 7.—Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p- 251.

 

How manifestly is the law of representation exhibited in certain species of Humming-Birds inhabiting
similar latitudes north and south of the equator! The Helodoxa Otero and H. Leadbeateri are two species
which will serve well to illustrate this theory—the one inhabiting Bolivia, on the south, the other Columbia,
on the north. I am not a little surprised that some ornithologists have considered these two birds as one
and the same species; an Eagle and a Buzzard can scarcely offer greater differences in size than the Ocero
and Leadbeater?: the former, moreover, differs in having the blue on the crown extended backwards
towards the occiput, and the green colouring of the breast finer, if possible, and more glittering ; in other
respects a great similarity exists in the two species.

The discovery and characterization of this fine bird are due to Dr. von Tschudi, the celebrated traveller,
whose work entitled ‘Fauna Peruana’ will form a lasting memorial of his ability and zeal in the cause of
science. ‘The specimens in my own collection were principally procured by Mr. Bridges, during his short
residence near La Paz, but I have one example which I obtained in exchange from the Museum at Copen-
hagen. All these specimens closely resemble each other, and are of much larger size than the H. Lead-
beaterit. ‘The two species appear never to encroach upon each other’s country. I have not yet seen either
species from Ecuador.

How must every lover of natural history, particularly the trochilidist, yearn. to acquire some information
respecting the mode of life, flight, food, &c., of the various forms of Humming-Birds, in all which respects
they will doubtless be found to differ as much as these little ornithological gems do in their colouring and

structure !

The entire crown of the male is of a brilliant metallic blue ; the throat and breast luminous green ; occiput
and nape reddish bronze, appearing black when viewed in front ; back, upper and under wing-coverts, upper
tail-coverts, abdomen and flanks bronzy green; wings purplish brown ; upper tail-coverts and two central
tail-feathers pure bronze, the remaining tail-feathers black, glossed with bronze; behind the eye a small
patch of white ; bill black; feet dark brown. :

The female has the upper surface bronzy green, marked with deeper bronze on the nape ; wings purplish
brown ; four centre tail-feathers bronze, the remainder bluish black, glossed with bronze on the outer webs
and tipped with greyish white ; under surface white, spangled with green ; vent ls buff.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Eehites Franciscea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HELIODOXA LEADBEATERL

Leadbeater’s Brilliant.

Trochilus Leadbeateri, Boure. Rev. Zool. 1843, p. 102.—Ib. Ann. Sci. Phys. &e. de Lyon,
1848, p. 43. pl. 5.

Leadbeatera grata, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 70, Leadbeatera, sp. 2.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de
Zool. 1854, p. 251.

Melhsuga Leadbeateri, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 3.
Heliodoxa leadbeateri, Sclat.in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxv. p. 16.

 

Wuen this bird was described by M. Bourcier in 1843, but few specimens had reached Europe; and,
indeed, it has only recently become common. Its native country is the great uplifted lands known as the
Andean range of mountains, and the spurs and lower hills which jut out eastwardly in the direction of the
interior ; it even extends its range to the high lands of the Caraccas, as shown by specimens brought from
thence by the late Mr. David Dyson. Bogota, however, is the country in which it is most numerous ; here,
wherever a district suitable to its habits and economy occurs, within an area of one hundred miles from the
city of Sta. Fé de Bogota, it appears to be found; and from this city hundreds of Indian skinned specimens
are from time to time sent to Europe. I have never seen examples from Ecuador, and believe it is never
found nearer to Quito than Popayan: neither does its ‘near ally extend its range to this equatorial region ;
at least, no specimens have as yet been sent from thence. It would seem that both species inhabit countries
at an equal distance from either side of the line—one on the south, the other on the north.

It will have been noticed that very many species of this group of birds have been named after persons,
living or dead, who have rendered themselves conspicuous for their devotion to art and science, or as pro-
moters of our knowledge of natural history. The name of Leadbeater, given to the present bird, is familiar
to every ornithologist in Europe; I have known all three of the generations of this family, who have devoted
themselves to Ornithology, and can bear testimony to the zeal and liberality with which they have at all
times assisted the researches of scientific men to the utmost of their power. ‘The compliment, therefore,
cannot be considered as ill bestowed.

The sexes of the Heliodova Leadbeateri present the same difference in their colouring that is seen in the
H. Otero and H. jacula, the female not having the brilliant blue crown ; neither does she exhibit the brilliant
green colouring of the breast, which, when seen in a newly-moulted bird, surpasses imagination ; it is,
however, still finer in the H. Otero; no pencil can possibly give more than a faint idea of its brilliancy.

The male has the crown brilliant metallic blue; throat and breast luminous green; back of the neck
coppery red, appearing black if viewed in front; back, wing-coverts, abdomen and flanks bronzy green ;
wings purplish brown; upper tail-coverts reddish bronze ; central tail-feathers bronze; lateral feathers
purplish black, with bronzy reflexions ; under tail-coverts olive ; behind the eye a small patch of white ; bill
black ; feet dark brown.

The female has the upper surface bronzy green, with a tinge of red at the nape; wings purplish brown ;
central tail-feathers bronze ; lateral feathers purplish black, tipped with white ; under sumace white, spangled
with green; lower part of the abdomen buff; under tail-coverts pale green, margined an light buff.

The Plate represents both sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Ziechopiha suans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
TROCHILUS POLY TMUS, Linn.
Black-capped Humming-bird.

Polytmus 1. Brown, Nat. Hist. of Jam., p. 475.

Faleinellus, cauda septem unciarum, Klein, Av.., p- 108. No. 17.

Long-tailed Black-cap Humming-bird, Edwards's Birds, vol. i. pl. 34. p. 34.

Bourdonneur de Mangoe @ longue queue, Albin, tom. iii. p. 20. pl. 49. fig. a.

Oiseau-mouche a longue queue noir, Sonn. Edit. de Buff. Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 215.

Melhisuga Jamaicensis atricapilla, caudd bifurcd, Briss. Orn., tom. ii. p. 729.

Mellivora avis maxima, Sloane, Jam., vol. ii. p: 309. t. 264. fig. 4.

Trochilus Polytmus, Linn. Syst. Nat. Edit. 10, tom. i. p- 120.—Ib. Gmel. Edit., tom. i. p. 186.
—Ib. Turt. Edit., vol. i. p- 303.—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p- 302.—Vieill. Ois.
Chant. des Amér., tom. ii. p- 71.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds, vol. ii. p- 108.
pl. 21.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds.—Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, p. 97.—Ib.
Il. Birds of Jam., pl. xix.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ti. p. 554.

Black-capped Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p- 748.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii.
p. 281.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p- 296.

Colibri a téte noire, Vieill. Ois. Dor., tom. i. p- 121. pl. 67.

Ormsmya cephalatra, Less. Ois. Mouch., We 73.9p). 7.

 

Tus species, the type, according to modern systematists, of the Linnean genus Zrochilus, is perhaps one of
the oldest and best-known members of the entire family, a description of it being included in nearly every
general work on Natural History, as will be seen on reference to the synonyms given above; but although
the bird itself has been so long known, nothing whatever had been recorded of its habits and economy
until the appearance of the very interesting and valuable account published by P. H. Gosse, Esq. in his
‘« Birds of Jamaica,” and from which I shall take the liberty of transcribing the more important particulars.

“This is the gem of Jamaican ornithology,” says Mr. Gosse; ‘its slender form, velvet crest, emerald
bosom, and lengthened tail-plumes, render it one of the most elegant members of its truly brilliant family.”
It “is a permanent resident in Jamaica, and is not uncommonly seen at all seasons and in all situations.
It loves to frequent the margins of road-sides, where it sucks the blossoms of the trees, occasionally
descending, however, to the low shrubs, and is abundant on the summit of the range of mountains
known as the Bluefields ridge. Behind these peaks which are visible from the sea, at an elevation of about
half a mile, there runs through the dense woods a narrow path, just passable for a horse, overrun with
beautiful ferns of many graceful forms, and always damp and cool. No habitation occurs within several miles,
and no cultivation, save the isolated provision-grounds of the negroes, which teem with enormous drums ;
and these are hidden from view far up in the thick woods. The refreshing coolness of this road, its un-
broken solitude, combined with the peculiarity and luxuriance of the vegetation, made it one of my favourite
resorts. Nota tree, from the thickness of one’s wrist to the gigantic magnitude of the hoary fig and cotton
tree, but is clothed with fantastic parasites ; Begonias with waxen flowers, and ferns with hirsute stems climb
up the trunks; enormous Bromelias spring from the greater forks, and fringe the horizontal imbs; various
Orchidee with matted roots and grotesque blossoms droop from every bough, and long lianes, like the condage
of a ship, depend from the loftiest branches, or stretch from tree to mee: Elegant free-ferns and towering
palms are numerous; here and there the wild plantain or Heliconia waves its long flag-like leaves from amidst
the humbler bushes, and in the most obscure corners over some decaying log, nods the noble spike of a
magnificent Limodorum. Nothing is flaunting or showy ; all is solemn and subdued; but all is exquisitely
beautiful. The smaller wood consists largely of the plant called Glass-eye berry, a Serophularions shrub,
the blossoms of which, though presenting little beauty in form or hue, are pre-eminently attractive ie the
Long-tailed Humming-bird. These bushes are at no part of the year out of blossom, the scarlet berries ap-

: a i one may with tolerable certaint
pearing at all seasons on the same stalk as the flowers, and here at any time ay @ ainty

calculate on finding these very lovely birds. But it is in March, April and May that they abound: I

suppose I have sometimes seen not fewer than a hundred come successively to rifle the blossoms wathin the
space of half as many yards in the course of a forenoon. They are, however, in no respect pregarious ;
though three or four may be at one moment hovering round the blossoms of the same bush, there is no

yh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

association; each is governed by his individual preference, and each attends to his own affairs. It is worthy
of remark, that males compose by far the greater portion of the individuals observed at this elevation, while
very few females are seen there ; whereas in the lowlands this sex outnumbers as other. In March a con-
siderable number are found to be clad in the livery of the adult male, but without the long tail-feathers,
while others possess them in various stages of development. These are, I have no doubt, males of the
preceding season. It is also quite common to find one of these lengthened feathers much shorter than the
other; and in their aérial encounters with each other a tail-feather is sometimes displaced. The whirring
sound made by the rapid vibration of the wings of the male is more shrill than that produced by those of
the female, and indicates the proximity of the bird before the eye has detected it. The male utters an
almost incessant chirp, both while resting upon a twig and while feeding from the flowers. They do not
invariably probe the flowers upon the wing, but may frequently be seen thus engaged when alighted and
sitting with closed wings; and they often partially sustain themselves while feeding by clinging with the
feet to a leaf with the wings expanded and vibrating.”. . . . . When perched, << they usually sit in a nearly
upright posture with the head thrown somewhat backwards, the beak pointing at a small angle above the
horizon, the feet almost hidden by the body being brought into contact with the perch, the tail thrown
somewhat forward under the belly, and the long feathers crossing each other near their middle.”

Mr. Gosse states, that they do not confine themselves to any particular season for nidification, but that he
found the nests most numerous in June; while Mr. Hill considers the breeding season to be at its height

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in January. The situation of the nest too appears to be very various, Mr. Gosse having found one
attached to the hanging fibre of the root of a tree which had entwined itself round the projecting points of

 

an overhanging limestone rock in a deep and thickly wooded dell; another stuck on a twig of a sea-side
grape-tree (Coccoloba), at about fifteen feet from the ground, the tree itself being so near to the water that
some of the branches hung over it; another on a hanging twig of a black mangrove-tree, the twig passing

 

perpendicularly through the side and out at the bottom; and another on a twig of a wild coffee-tree
( Letramerium odoratissimum). The nest is principally ‘< composed of silk cotton very closely pressed, mixed
with the still more glossy cotton of an Asclepias, particularly around the edge ; the seed remaining attached

 

 

to some of the filaments. On the outside the whole structure is quite covered with spiders’-web, crossed

 

and recrossed in every direction, and made to adhere by some viscous substance, evidently applied after the

 

 

web was placed, probably saliva. Little bits of pale green lichen, and fragments of thin laminated bark, are

 

 

 

 

stuck here and there on the outside by means of the webs having been passed over them.” The whole
forms “a very compact cup, 12‘inch deep without, and 1 inch deep within; the sides about + inch thick,
the inner margin a little overarching, so as to narrow the opening ; the total diameter at the top 1+ inch.”

 

The eggs are of a long oval form, and of a pure white, save that when fresh the contents produce a reddish

 

tinge, from the thinness of the shell; they are seven-twelfths of an inch long by four-twelfths of an inch

 

broad. The above, adds Mr. Gosse, is the usual «“ form, dimensions, and materials of the nest. Variations,
however, often occur from local causes: thus in one from a rocky situation only moss is used, and the base
is prolonged to a point; one now before me is wholly composed of pure silk cotton bound profusely with
the finest web, undistinguishable except on the closest examination ; not a fragment of lichen mars the
beautiful uniformity of its appearance; others are studded all over with lichens and have a peculiar rustic
prettiness.” That the chief food of the Humming-bird consists of insects, we have abundant evidence from
examination of the stomachs of many species; they are usually sought for in the deep flower-cups, but that
they are also obtained by hawking in the air, we learn from Mr. Gosse, who states that he has distinctly seen
‘the minute flies in the air, which it pursued and caught, and heard repeatedly the snapping of the beak.”

It will be seen that I have drawn very largely from the rich store of observations recorded by Mr. Gosse,
aud much more might be extracted with advantage, particularly a long and most interesting account of the

various attempts made by that gentleman at domesticating this very lovely species, for which, however, I
must beg to refer the reader to his “ Birds of Jamaica.”

 

 

The male has the crown of the head and the nape deep velvety black; upper surface green; wings
purplish black ; tail deep black, glossed with green at the base; throat, breast and belly lustrous emerald

green; vent and under tail-coverts bluish black ; irides black ; bill coral-red, the tip black; feet brown.

Total length, 10 inches; bill, 1; wing, 22; tail, 71; tarsus, 1.

The female has all the upper surface green with a bronzy lustre, deepening into brown on the forehead ;
wings as in the male; two centre tail-feathers bronzy green, the remainder deep blue glossed with bronzy
green on the basal portion of the external web, except the two outer feathers on each side which are deep
blue largely tipped with white; under surface white, the tips of the feathers on the sides of the neck and
flanks glossy green; irides dark brown ; bill reddish brown, black at the edges and tip; feet brownish black.

Total length, 4+ inches ; bill, 1; wing, 2+; tail, 12; tarsus, 1.

The Plate represents two adult males, a young male, a female, and a nest, all of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THALURANIA GLAUCOPIS.
Brazilian Wood Nymph.

Trochilus glaucopis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 497.—Pr. M

ax. Beitr. zur Naturg.
von Bras., p. 85.—Vieill. 2nde Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vii. p. 370,

et tom. xxi. p. 428.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p.557.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Hum-
ming Birds, vol. ii. p- 86.

Melhsuga Brasilensis cauda bifurca, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p- 724. pl. xxxvii. fig. 5?

Ornismya glaucopis, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., p. 175. pls. 58, 59.—Ib. Traité d’Orn.,
p: 273.

Polytmus glaucopis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 108, Polytmus, sp. 58.

Trochilus frontalis, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p- 318.

Blue-fronted Humming Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 786.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 352.
LT’ Oiseau-mouche a queue fourchue du Brésil, Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p- 116.

Thalurania glaucopis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 77, Thalurania, sp. 5.—Ib. Rev. et Mag. de
Zool. 1854, p. 254.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, ped.

Coeligena glaucopis, Reichenb. Troch. enumer., p. 3. pl. DCLXXXvV. figs. 4509, 4510.

 

Tus is one of the Humming Birds, the breasts and crowns of which constitute the materials so extensively
used for the construction of the beautiful artificial feather-flowers so frequently forwarded to this country
and to the Continent ; and we cannot but wonder, when we remember the wholesale destruction with which the
bird is visited, that it has not become very scarce, or even extirpated ; but the contrary seems to be the case,
for no one member of the family is more frequently to be seen in collections, many hundreds of specimens
being annually sent to Europe from Rio de Janeiro, which appears to be its head-quarters, as, according to
Mr. Reeves, it is found there during the whole of the year. It is also common in Minas-Geraes, Santa
Catharina, and other provinces of Brazil. It is said to be in full plumage in August and September, at
which season it is principally procured, and supplied to the nuns for the purpose above alluded to.

Mr. Reeves informs me, that ‘‘the numbers annually killed for the fabrication of artificial flowers are
immense. Its haunts are the margins of rivers, the virgin forests, and gardens, Its nest is generally
attached to the drooping branch of a Creeper; on being disturbed, it utters a note which may be described
by Fip-fipfipjip, quickly pronounced.”

The females appear to escape the wholesale destruction, none of their colours being bright or attractive ;
indeed, as will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, few birds are less gaily adorned.

The nest of this species is of a lengthened form, with a cup-shaped depression at the top: the materials
of which it is constructed vary in accordance with those that may be at hand im the situations in which it
is placed, but it is generallly composed of the brown inner fibres of the Palm fruit, and beautifully decorated
with flat pieces of lichen of various sizes and colour.

The male has the centre of the crown fine metallic blue ; sides and back of the head and nape dark green,
appearing black when viewed in front; upper surface, shoulders aud Wiig Overs green, becoming of a
brighter green on the upper tail-coverts; wings purplish black ; tail blacks with steel blue reflexions ; Me
whole of the under surface, including the under tail-coverts, yellowish shining green ; bill and feet blackish
brown. :

The female has the whole of the upper surface green ; wings purplish black ; two central tailteathers
and the basal portion of the lateral ones bronzy green; the remainder of the lateral fans black, with
steel-blue reflexions, and the external one tipped with grey; under surface grey, washed with green on the
flanks.

The figures are the size of life. ons ee

For the drawing of the Brazilian plant, the name of which is unknown to me, I am indebted to

T. Reeves, Esq.

i

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
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THALURANIA WATERTONI.

Waterton’s Wood Nymph.

Trochilus Watertoni, Lodd. MSS.—Boure. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xv. p. 44.
Polytmus Watertoni, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 65.
Thalurania Watertoni, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 76, Thalurania, sp. 4.—Ib. Rev. et Mag.
de Zool. 1854, p. 254.
Watertoni, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 7.

Coeligena Watertoni, Reichenb. Troch. enumer., p. 3.

 

Wueruer the 7Zrochifide are less numerous in Demerara than in other parts of South America, and whether
they have been less attended to, are questions I am unable to answer; certain it is that we possess but
a limited knowledge of the species inhabiting that country. At the same time I may remark, that the few
with which we are acquainted are all very beautiful, as an evidence of which I may cite the rare and lovely
bird here represented, which was discovered by Mr. Waterton on the banks of the Mibiri Creek, about forty
miles up the River Essequibo. Mr. Waterton’s specimen was kindly presented by him to the late Mr. George
Loddiges, in whose collection it still remains. For many years it was unique; but the researches of enthu-
siastic travellers and collectors are annually unfolding to us the treasures of South America, and very recently
two other examples of this fine bird have been procured, not I believe in Demerara, but towards the confines
of Brazil, and probably near the embouchure of the great river Amazon ; these specimens now grace my own
collection, and, with the one above referred to, are all that I have yet seen.

The Thalurania Watertoni is in every respect a typical member of the genus, being precisely of the same
form, and clothed in a similar style of colouring as the 7. furcata, but having the tail-feathers much more
developed, and the blue of the back more generally spread, forming in fact a great mantle of metallic-blue
feathers, which covers nearly the whole of the upper surface. The female remains still undiscovered.

Mr. Loddiges dedicated this fine bird to its discoverer, Mr. Waterton, whose writings on natural history
are so well known to the world at large as to render any comment upon them quite unnecessary.

Crown of the head and back of the neck greenish bronze; back, shoulders, wing-coverts and flanks fine
rich metallic blue ; lower part of the back dark green ; upper tail-coverts purple; throat, breast, and centre
of the abdomen fine metallic grass-green ; wings very dark purplish black ; tail and under tail-coverts black,
with steel-blue reflexions; bill black; feet dark brown.

The figure is the size of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

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THALURANIA FURCATA.

Cayenne Wood-Nymph.

Mellisuga Jamaicensis, violacea, cauda bifurca, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. pp. 728, 732. pl. xxxvii. fig. 6.
—Id., 8vo, tom. ii. p. 40.

Trochilus furcatus, Gmel., Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p- 486.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p- 304.
—Jard. Nat. Lib., Humming-birds, vol. i. p- 125. pl. 23.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn.,

part u. p. 572.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p- 809.—Ib., Steph. Cont., vol. xiv.
p. 239.

L’Oiseau-mouche violet @ queue fourchue, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 37.—Vieill. Ois.
Wor, tom. 1. p- 71. pl. 34.

L’ Oiseau-mouche a queue Jourchue, Buff. Pl. Enl. 599. fig. 2.

Ornismya furcata, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois.-mou., pp. xiv, 82. pl. 18.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn.
des Ois. du gen. Trochilus, p- xxij.—lb. Traité d’Orn. p- 273.

Polytmus furcatus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 61.

Thalurania furcata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xx. p- 8.—Bonap. Rey. et Mag. de Zool.
1854, p. 254.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Col., Die

_—— furcatus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 76, Thalurania, sp. 1.
Lesser Fork-tailed Humming-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 75?—lb. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. paca
Furcated Humming-bird, Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. xi. pl. 397.

 

Ir is impossible to say with certainty whether the bird described and figured by Brisson and the older
authors be identical with the species here represented or not; if it be, they are certainly quite
wrong in stating Jamaica to be one of its habitats, an error which I am surprised to find repeated
by Lesson, Jardine, and other recent authorities ; for so exclusively, in fact, does the bird inhabit the
continent of South America, that I believe it never occurs in any of the islands, not even the adjacent
one of Trinidad; it enjoys, indeed, a very restricted range, being confined to Cayenne and Guiana, and
scarcely extending so far as the Amazon towards Brazil. The bird of the same form and style of colouring
which is found about Para, and which is usually considered to be the same, possesses, in the opinion of some,
sufficient differences to warrant its being considered distinct, and to receive a separate appellation, that of
YT. furcatoides. Judging from the great numbers that are annually skinned and sent to Europe, this bird
must be very numerous in Cayenne; it frequently arrives in hundreds at a time, consequently a considerable
commerce exists between the dealers in Paris and the collectors in Cayenne. Being an exceedingly pretty
and elegant species, great care is taken to obtain it only at that season of the year when at is in its
finest plumage, and much attention is devoted to the making up of oe skins. As is el with all the
members of this genus, the female is totally different from the male in colour, and considerably so in the
form and character of the tail. It is surprising how few of this sex are prepared, which is doubtless

due to their plumage being too dull and unattractive to demand attention.

BS eal ing-Cov ack in some lights, deep
The male has the crown of the head, back of the neck, back and wing-coverts black ghts, : I
green in others; throat shining grass-green ; band across the back and shoulders violet ; under a
. : . : : Ras is ack : er tail-coverts brown, margine
beautiful deep violet-blue ; wings purplish brown ; tail bluish black; under te , g
with grey. : 5
The Plate represents both sexes of the size of life. The plant is the Opuntia Salmeana.

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THALURANIA REFULGENS, Gow.
Refulgent Wood-Nyimph.

Thalurania refulgens, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xx. p. 9.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de
Zool. 1854, p. 254.—Reich. Auf. der Col., p. 7.
Coeligena refulgens, Reich. Troch. Enum., peo

 

Tue bird figured in the accompanying Plate, to which I have given the name of Thalurania refulgens, is distin-
guished from most of the other members of the genus by its large size, its extreme beauty and strongly
contrasted markings. In its general style of colouring, as well as in the form and disposition of its gular
patch, it is perhaps more nearly allied to the 7. furcata than to any other species; but independently of its
larger size, it is distinguished from that bird by the jet-black colour of its forehead, crown and nape, and
its deep steel-black under tail-coverts. It so far exceeds in all its admeasurements the thousands of
specimens of 7. furcata I have seen and examined, that there is no doubt in my mind of its being speci-
fically distinct ; while the form of its green throat-mark, which is square or truncate below, separates it at
once from the bird I have called xigrofasciata; besides which it is of larger size even than that species.

My collection contains two examples of this fine bird, one of which was presented to me by T. F. Erskine,
Esq., a gentleman enthusiastically attached to the Trochilide, and whose knowledge of the species of this
family is perhaps scarcely surpassed by any devotee of this lovely group of birds.

Up to the present time no example of the female has, so far as I am aware, been collected ; neither is it in
my power to direct the attention of collectors to the native localities of the species, whereby this desideratum
might be supplied ; in all probability the interior of Demerara and the neighbouring country of the Caraccas
is its true habitat.

It will be seen that I have united with this bird one of the most delicate and beautiful flowering plants
which America has yet given us; the drawing was made by Mr. Richter from a freshly expanded blossom
which flowered in the stove at Berry Hill, near Taplow in Buckinghamshire ; and it gives me great pleasure
to offer thus publicly my thanks to Mr. Noble, for his kindness in directing this beautiful specimen of the
Dipladenia splendens to be placed at my disposal for the purpose of figuring ; thereby adding another to the
many acts of liberality proffered by this gentleman for the furtherance of art and science.

Crown of the head velvety black ; throat rich metallic green ; breast and shoulders beautiful purplish blue ;
wings purplish brown ; tail black ; under tail-coverts steel-black.

Total length, 5 inches; bill, 1; wing, 2+; tail, 27.

The figures are of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 
THALURANIA TSCHUDIL, Gowza.
Tschudi’s Wood-Nymph.

Trochilus furcatus, Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, p: 39.

Thalurama Tschudi, Gould MS., Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 460.—Gould in
Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 312.

 

Tux present bird would appear, at a first glance, to be identical either with the Zhalurania JSurcata or
T. refulgens ; but when compared with those species, it is found to present many differences. It is a larger
and more robust bird, and has broader tail-feathers than the former; but it is smaller than the latter, and
differs from both in the colouring of the abdomen, which is prussian-blue, while the same part in T.. furcatus
is ultramarine-blue, and in 7 refulgens violet-blue; from the 7" nigrofasciata, to which it is also allied, it
differs in the truncate form of its green throat-mark.

I am indebted to the Directors of the Museum of Natural History at Neuchatel for permission to ex-
amine all the species of Humming-Birds collected by Dr. Tschudi during his travels in Peru ; among these
was one of the present bird, which was labelled Zrochilus JSurcatus, a circumstance which informs us that
this is the species described by that gentleman in his ‘ Fauna Peruana’ under that name; as, however,
it is quite distinct from the bird to which the term furcatus had been previously applied, I have been
obliged to give it a new appellation, and have selected that of Zschudii, as a just compliment to one who
has effected so much in the cause of science.

Mr. Hauxwell sent me fine examples from the Ucayali; it is evident, therefore, that the banks of that
river is one of its habitats; in all probability the forests of the inner dip of the Bolivian and Peruvian
Andes are also inhabited by it. At present I have never seen a female; but this sex will doubtless be
coloured like the females of the other members of the genus, particularly the female of 7. furcata.

Crown of the head and all the upper surface golden green, inclining to bronzy green on the tail-coverts ;
throat beautiful green; abdomen prussian-blue ; under tail-coverts steel-black, many of the feathers slightly
fringed with white; thighs, tarsi, and anal region white ; tail steel-black.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is a Pass¢fora, the specific name of which is unknown
to me.

NEY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
4 Wa

CL IFURPLME:

Gouda,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
THALURANIA NIGROFASCIATA, Gould.
Black-banded Wood-Nymph.

Trochilus (

 

?) nigrofasciatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soce., part xiv. p- 98.
Thalurania nigrofasciata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xx. p. 8.—Reich. Auf. der Col.,
p- 7.—Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil iii. p- 23.
nigrofasciatus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 76, Thalurania, sp. 2.
Polytmus nigrofasciatus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 62.
Thalurania ngrifasciata, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.
Coeligena nigrofasciata, Reich. Troch. Enum., p. 3. t. delxxxiv. fig. 4506 ?
Thalurania viridipectus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1848, p. 13.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.,

tom. 1. p. 76, Thalurania, sp. 3.—Reich. Auf. der Col., p. 7.—Bonap. Rev. et
Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.

Coeligena viridipectus, Reich. Troch, Enum., p. 3.

 

Turner is not perhaps a better defined group in the great family of Humming-Birds than that to which I
have given the generic name of Thalurania, since all the species of which it is composed bear a very general
resemblance to each other, and all are alike distinguished by an exceedingly beautiful style of colouring, of
which blue and green are the prevailing tints; but so variously are these hues disposed in the several
species, that each is readily distinguishable from the other. The present bird (7. nigrofasciata) is rendered
remarkably distinct from its congeners by the deep band of black which crosses the breast and separates
the green of the throat from the rich blue of the abdomen. This band, which of course follows the cur-
vature of the base of the throat-mark, is broad and conspicuous in some specimens, while in others it is
almost obsolete, a circumstance which induced me at one time to believe that the banded and non-banded
birds were two distinct species, and to give to the latter the name of wridipectus ; an examination, however,
of a great number of specimens has since convinced me that both that term and nigrofasciata have
reference to one and the same bird: veridinectus, therefore, which was proposed in 1848, two years after
that of xgvrofasciata, has been placed in the rank of a synonym.

The true habitat of this bird is the forests which border the upper parts of the rivers Amazon and Rio
Negro; but it is also found in Bogota; and I have even received specimens in a collection from Quito ;
whence we may infer that it ranges over a vast extent of country, perhaps over the whole of the eastern
dip of the Andes, of Ecuador, and Columbia.

The sexes present the usual differences in colour; the female being clothed in a most sombre livery,
particularly on the under surface, a part which is so richly adorned in the male.

Threat lustrous green ; edge of the shoulders and abdomen shining blue, separated from the green of the
throat by a lunate band of black; head and back of the neck bronze; back and wing-coverts brownish
green ; wings purplish brown ; tail dull steel-blue ; bill black.

The female has the head, all the upper surface, and wing-coverts green; wings purplish brown; tail green
at the base, passing into steel-blue at the extremity, and with a spot of white at the tip of the two outer
feathers ; all the under surface light brownish grey; bill black.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Pilumna fragrans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
  
 
THALURANIA VENUSTA, Gowda.
Veraguan Wood-Nymph.

Trochilus (Thalurania) venusta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xviii. p. 163.
(—____) puella, Gould MSS. 1853.
Thalurania venusta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xx. p. 9.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool.
1854, p. 254.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 7.
—_—— puella, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p.254.—Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p.7.

 

Tue discovery of this new species by the celebrated traveller Warszewicz near the volcano of Chiriqui
in Veragua is of twofold interest; first, as adding an additional species to the well-defined genus Zhalu-
rama, and, secondly, as affording still further evidence that most of the forms at one time considered to
be peculiar to the continent of South America proper, have their representatives in the countries lying to
the northward at the Isthmus of Panama, generally known as Central America. Besides the specimens
procured by M. Warszewicz, I have received others from the same district through M. Verreaux; these
latter, although sufficiently perfect for the purpose of figuring, were not in very good condition. M. Wars-
zewicz describes the living bird to be an object of the greatest beauty, and one can readily believe the
truth of his assertion, as, unlike every other member of the genus, not only is the crown, but the greater
part of the back of the neck, the entire mantle and the shoulders are clothed in a rich livery of purplish
blue ; in size it is about the same as 7. furcata, but its rich bluish-black tail is still more deeply forked.
No one member of the genus is more scarce in our collections than the 7. venusta; it is to be hoped there-
fore that explorers will at no distant date procure us a further supply of this lovely species.

By some accident the name of puella, which I originally intended to apply to this species, but for which I
substituted that of venusta, has found its way into Dr. Reichenbach’s and other lists of the Trochilide, which
I regret, as it tends to produce confusion; I therefore take this opportunity of saying that the two names
are synonymous, and that the one here retained—venusta—is the one to be adopted.

The entire crown, back of the neck and upper part of the back, shoulders, abdomen and under tail-
coverts beautiful shining ultramarine blue; throat and fore part of the neck rich. metallic green; wings

purplish black ; tail blackish blue ; bill black.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Odontoglossum hastilabrum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

          

UNUUNNI ON
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THALURANIA COLUMBICA.

Columbian Wood-Nymph.

Ornismya Colombica, Boure. et Muls. Rev. Zool. 1843, p. 2.—Ib. Ann. de la Soc. Sci. de Lyon,
1843, pl. 6.

Polytmus Columbicus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 60.

Thalurania Columbiana, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soe:; paths p.S.

——— colombica, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.

———-—. columbica, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col., D7.

 

However highly M. Warszewicz may have extolled the loveliness of the Thalurania venusta, it scarcely exceeds
that of the bird here represented, which must also be regarded as a species of great beauty and elegance.
As its name implies, its native country is Columbia, and the chief mart whence specimens are sent to Europe
is that great emporium of bird-skins, Santa Fé de Bogota. It differs from all the other known species in its
small neat blue cap, and the almost total absence of blue on the back, this colour being more confined to
the shoulders ; I observe, too, that the green colouring of the throat descends farther down the chest than
in 7. furcatus, and that this mark, moreover, assumes a more rounded form on its lower margin; the bird
is also somewhat larger in size.

The great number of specimens that are sent to Europe—principally to France—testify that the bird is
very abundant in the districts visited by the Indian collector. Fortunately, this bird has received only a
single specific appellation ; but it has been placed in three distinct genera.

The male has the crown of the head, a band across the centre of the back, the lesser wing-coverts, the
under wing-coverts, the abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts of a lovely blue; back of the head and neck,
back and greater wing-coverts black in some lights, deep green in others ; throat and breast shining grass-
green; wings purplish brown ; upper tail-coverts and tail black, glossed with steel-blue.

The female is golden green above, grey beneath; tail green at the base, the apical portion steel-blue, all

but the two middle feathers tipped with greyish white.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Gualtheria bracteata.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
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THALURANIA VERTICEPS, Gould.

Green-crowned Wood-Nymph.

Trochilus (Thalurania) verticeps, Gould, in Jard. Cont. to Orn. TSoF p. 792 piaak
Thalurania verticeps, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xx. p- 9.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool.
1854, p. 254.

Trochilus Fannyi, Boure. et De Latt. Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 310.

Hylocharis Fannyi, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 114, Hylocharis, sp. 20.
Thalurania Lydia, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, pee

hiccordia verticeps, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 8.

 

Ir would appear that, as we pass along the great chain of the Andes from north to south, or vce versa, every
few degrees of latitude present us with a distinct species of Thalurania ; I say distinct, because in no group
are the specific characters more decidedly different or more clearly defined than in the members of the
present genus. Of all the known species, the 7. verticeps, a native of Ecuador and Peru, is the most
southern representative of the form in those elevated regions. The specimens I possess were principally
procured by Professor Jameson in the neighbourhood of Quito. I have also received others from the
Napo, and M. Warszewicz obtained examples in the Cordilleras of Quindios. It is a fine and truly elegant
species, differing from all others in the resplendent glittering green of its crown, bounded posteriorly in
some specimens by a narrow mark of blue, occupying a single, or at most two or three feathers. On the
shoulder the purplish blue is most brilliant, while in the centre of the back the colour is generally absent.
The specimens collected at Quindios are smaller than those procured in the neighbourhood of Quito and the
Napo, and accord precisely with the bird to which M. Bourcier has given the name of Fanny. Some persons
might be inclined to believe that these birds are distinct, but as they merely differ in size, I shall consider
them to be one and the same until corroborating evidence of their being two species has been received.
The specific term Fanny given to this bird by M. Bourcier having been previously assigned by Lesson to
another member of the family, Dr. Reichenbach substituted in 1853 the appellation of Lydia; verticeps had,
however, been given to it by myself two years before, consequently it has the priority, and is necessarily
the one adopted. The female, of which I have seen several examples, assimilates a closely to the females
of 7. furcata and the other smaller members of the group ; the grey of the throat is, however, rather more

circumscribed.

Forehead and anterior portion of the head occupied by a round spot of shining green; throat and breast
shining green; back of the head, neck, back, rump and upper tail-coverts dark glossy green, with a wash of
bronze on the back of the neck; shoulders metallic blue, passing into green; wings purplish black ; tail
greenish black, and considerably forked ; abdomen dark glossy blue ; under tail-coverts greenish blue, mar-
eined with white ; tarsi clothed with greyish-white feathers ; bill black ; feet fleshy brown.

The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Clavija ornata.

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THALURANIA ERIPHILE.

Brazilian Wood-Nymph.

Ornsmya Eriplule, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois.-mou., Supp. p. 148. pl. 25.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn.
des Ois. du gen. Trochilus, p. xxij.

Polytmus Eriphile, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 108, Polytmus, sp. 64.
Thalurama eryphla, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.
Lryphale, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 7.
ermphile, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 77, Thalurania, sp. 7.—Gould in Proce. of Zool.
Soc., part xx. p. 9.

 

Tur Zhalurania Eriphile is one of the two Brazilian representatives of the genus, the other being the
T. glaucopis ; and these, so far as I am aware, are the only species of the form inhabiting at least the eastern
part of that great country. The present bird is tolerably common both in Minas Geraes and Bahia, as is
proved by the great numbers that are sent to Europe from those districts. It is a stout robust bird, not so
graceful in form as many of its allies. Although the colouring is showy and attractive, the green of the
crown must yield in brilliancy to that of its mountain representative, the 7° verticeps.

In the 7. Eriphile the entire face, ear-coverts and throat are uniform uninterrupted green, while the under
surface is beautiful smalt-blue ; and the shoulders are but slightly tipped with this hue, in which respect it
differs from all its allies.

Although an inhabitant of that comparatively well-known country, Brazil, I find little or nothing has been
recorded respecting its history, which is very singular, considering the numbers of scientific travellers that

have visited that country.

Forehead, face and throat shining grass-green; upper surface deep green, washed with blue on the tips
of the shoulders, and with bronze on the greater coverts of the wing and the upper coverts of the tail ;

under surface beautiful blue ; wings purplish brown ; tail bluish black.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Galipea macrophylla.

EN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
SNS Ie oe _—

THALURANIA WAGLERI.
Wagler’s Wood-Nymph.

Ornismya Waglerii, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., p- 208. pl. 73.—Ib. Traité d’Orn., p. 274.—
Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du gen. Trochilus, p. xxi.

Le Saphir-émeraude, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p- 75. pl. 36.

Trochilus Waglerti, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds, vol. ii. p- 83. pl. 16.

Cynanthus Waglervi, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming Birds, vol. ii. p a

Hylocharis Wagleri, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 114, Hylocharis, sp. 14.

Thalurania Wagleri, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 77, Thalurania, sp. 6.—Reichenb. Aufz. der
Col., p. 7.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p- 254.

 

Ir has long been a question with me, as I am sure it must have been with every person who has made the
Trochilide their study, to which genus of the family this species should be assigned: some Trochilidists
may hereafter go so far as to separate it from all the genera at present proposed, and make it the type of a
new one; but, after an examination of the female, which I have lately received through the kindness of
M. Bourcier, I have little hesitation in associating it with the other Wood-Nymphs of the genus Zhalurania,
a genus comprising many species widely dispersed over the continent of America. The present bird is the
only one of them that has the throat and the crown of the head blue. Its native habitat is the northern
part of Brazil, but it may perhaps visit Guiana. It is by no means a common bird, and unfortunately
most of the specimens hitherto sent to Europe have been more or less defective.

The male has the crown of the head, face, chin and throat very rich deep blue; all the upper surface and
wing-coverts shining bronzy-green; under surface shining dark grass-green; wings very dark purplish-
brown ; upper tail-coverts and tail very dark steel-blue ; bill black ; the basal portion of the under mandible
fleshy.

The female has the crown of the head and greater wing-coverts green; upper surface and lesser wing-
coverts bronzy-green; upper tail-coverts bluish-green ; wings purplish-brown ; tail steel-blue glossed with
green, and the two outer feathers on each side tipped with white; lores and ear-coverts brown; under
surface brownish-white, washed with bronze on the flanks; upper mandible dark brown ; under mandible

fleshy-brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Burlington decora.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 
 

PANOPLITES JARDINI.
Jardine’s Panoplites.

Trochilus Jardini, Bourc. Comptes rendus de l’Acad. des Sci., tom. xxxii. p. 187

Florisuga jardinii, Bonap. Consp. Mroch. aim Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 253.

 

THE sec ompanying Plate is intended to represent one of the most beautiful of the Trochilide yet discovered ;
I say pe ded, for whatever success may have attended my attempts to convey an idea of the beauty of
ARE exquisite living gems, I must confess that the means at my command are utterly inadequate to do
gusiice to the present species, whose crown, back, shoulders and chest-sides are clothed with hues of
metallic blue and green of such resplendent brilliancy, that it is quite impossible to represent them upon
paper; those therefore of my readers who may wish to view them, must seek an opportunity for attentively
examining the birds themselves. :

The native country of this glittering gem is the temperate regions of Ecuador, where, in certain localities,
it is tolerably common. It is still, however, a rare bird in Europe, and there are few collections which
comprise examples, and none, I believe, so fine as those contained in my own. For these I am indebted to
my good friend Professor Jameson, of Quito, a gentleman of high scientific attainments, and who has largely
contributed to our knowledge of the Zoology and Botany of the rich district in which he resides. That he may
have still a long life to enjoy, is, I am sure, the sincere wish of all his scientific friends and correspondents ;
among whom is included one whose name is familiar to every zoologist, as that of an ardent lover of natural
history, and who has spent the greater part of his life in the promotion of its cause ; need I add that I allude
to Sir William Jardine, Bart., after whom this lovely bird has been named, by M. Bourcier, of Paris, as
a just tribute to his merits as a naturalist.

M. Bourcier, who first brought the species to Europe, states that the bird inhabits the hot regions of the
great forests in the environs of Nanégan. In the letter accompanying the specimens transmitted by Pro-
fessor Jameson, he says: ‘‘ Having from time to time procured from collectors a considerable number of
fine species of Trochilide from an extensive forest about two days’ journey distant from Quito, I could no
longer resist my inclination to visit that part of the country; and as I particularly wished to ascertain the
precise localities frequented by the more interesting species, I determined at once to carry my project into
effect, and only regretted that you were not here to accompany me. You are aware that explorations in
these countries are achieved at the expense of great bodily fatigue; the journey on foot usually commences
at the upper boundary of the forest, say at 10,000 feet, and is continued downwards to that of 4000 above
the sea-level. The Trochilide observed at the first-mentioned elevation, were Lriocnemis Luciani, Agleactis
cupripennis and Helianthea Lutetia, all feeding on the flowers of the Syphocampylus giganteus. A little lower
down, another species, unknown to me, frequented the flowers of different species of Fuchsia ; and at a station
6000 feet, where I remained for the night, I saw for the first time that magnificent species named Jardini.
It was by no means uncommon, and I shot a splendid specimen on a tree belonging to the family Myrtaceae,
which appeared to be its favourite haunt. From the height of the tree I could not reach the blossoms ; all

I could do was to procure a branch with the leaves, which are rather large.”

Crown of the head shining violet-blue ; back and sides of the neck velvety black ; upper surface luminous
metallic-bluish verditer green ; wing-coverts shining yellowish green, passing into bronzy green towards the
primaries ; wings dark brownish purple; throat, breast and abdomen violet-blue, bordered on the sides of
the neck and flanks with glittering green; under surface of the shoulder rust-red ; lower part of the flanks,
vent and under tail-coverts dusky black, the latter tipped with white; two centre tail-feathers dark bronzy
purple, the remainder white, each margined externally and tipped with dull greenish black ; upper tail-
coverts dull bluish purple ; bill black.

After a careful examination of the specimens,

genus do not differ in their plumage.
The figures are of the natural size. ‘The plant is a species of Heliconia.

I believe that the sexes of this and the other species of the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
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PANOPLITES FLAVESCENS.

Yellow-fronted Panoplites.

Trochilus Jlavescens, Lodd. in Proce. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soe., Part xi. Does:
Ornismia paradisea, Boiss. Rey. Zool. 1840, p. 6.

Melhsuga flavescens, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 112, Melhsuga, sp. 26.
Amazilius flavescens, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 78, Amazilius, sp. 9.

Clytolema flavescens, Bonap. Consp. Troch. in Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.

 

In all probability the first example of this bird which reached this country was the one forwarded to me
direct from Popayan in 1830. It was from this specimen that Mr. Loddiges took his description of the
species, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the
Zoological Society for 1832. That the bird enjoys a wide range of habitat is evidenced by the circum-
stance of its being found in more or less abundance in various and distant localities along the line of the
Western Andes: thus, as already mentioned, I have myself received it from Popayan; M. Bourcier met with
it in Ecuador; it is one of the commonest of the numerous species sent from Bogota; and that it inhabits
countries still farther north, we know from the circumstance of M. Warszewicz having collected specimens
near the Isthmus of Panama. Mr. Mark, Her Majesty’s Consul at Bogota, informs me that it is found
about two days’ journey from that city, particularly near the villages of Guaduas and Fusugasuga, and that
it is very generally dispersed over this elevated region at an altitude of from three thousand five hundred
to six thousand feet above the sea-level, where the thermometer ranges from seventy to eighty degrees.

The Panoplites flavescens is one of the commonest of the Andean Humming Birds that is sent to Europe.
Differences occasionally occur in the colouring of the specimens we receive, some having the crown and
throat splendid metallic greenish yellow, relieved by a darker olive-green hue on the neck and chest,
and other specimens, probably younger birds, having a lighter and more uniform cast of plumage. In
form the bird is precisely like the P. Jardini, and, as will be seen on comparing the figures of the two
species, has a similarly marked and lightly coloured tail. I have not been able to detect any difference in
the colouring of the sexes, and I believe they are only to be distinguished by actual dissection.

Crown of the head and throat luminous yellowish green; plumage of the upper and under surface and
wing-coverts dark green; wings brownish purple; under surface of the shoulder and the axillee rugous ;
vent buffy white; thighs clothed with somewhat lengthened white feathers ; SCHUH. A greenish
bronze, the remainder delicate buff, broadly margined externally and round the tip with greenish bronze ;

bill black.

The figures are of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

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PANOPLITES MATTHEWSL.

Matthews’ Panoplites.

Trochilus Matthewsii, Lodd. MSS. Boure. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part XV. p. 43.
Mellisuga Matthewsii, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 112, Mellisuga, sp. 27.
Clytolema matthewsi, Bonap. Consp. Troch. in Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.

 

Tue rich country of Peru is the native habitat of this very rare species ; I say very rare, because as yet few
examples have been sent to Europe; there is, however, a very fine one in the Collection of the Jardin des
Plantes at Paris, and I have been fortunate enough to procure three or four for my own. One of these was
sent to me by Don Manuel Villavicencio, from Quejos in the neighbourhood of the Napo, the others were
killed on the banks of the Maranon by M. Warszewicz.

The name of Matthews, to whom this bird has been dedicated, will live as long as the study of
Ornithology holds a place among the natural sciences, as the discoverer of the wonderful Humming Bird
called Loddigesia mirabilis, which is still unique, and forms the chief gem of the Loddigesian Collection ; I
regret to add that the life of its discoverer fell a victim to the pestiferous region in which it was found.

Of the habits and economy of the Panoplites Matthews?, nothing is at present known; they are doubtless
very similar to those of its near allies the P. Jardini and P. flavescens, but of these, unfortunately, little has
been recorded. I believe the sexes to be similarly coloured, all the examples I have seen being precisely

alike.

Feathers of the head, neck and throat rich shining green, the basal portion of the lower feathers of the
throat being chestnut-red; wing-coverts, back and upper tail-coverts bronzy green; under surface of the
shoulders and under surface of the body rich chestnut-red ; wings purplish brown; two central tail-feathers
greenish bronze; the remainder cinnamon-red tipped with greenish bronze ; bill black.

The figures are of the natural size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

FLORISUGA MELLIVORA.

Jacobin.

Trochilus mellivorus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 193.—Gmel. Edit.. tom. i p- 499.—Borowsk

tom. i. p. 159.—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p-310.—Jard. Nat. Lib.
vol. 1. p. 189. pl. 30.

White-bellied Humming-Bird, Edw. Glean., pl. 35. fig. 1.
Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iy. p- 324.

La Jacobine, Buff. Pl. Enl. 640. fig. 2.—Ib. Hist. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 34.

L’ Oiseau mouche & collier, dit La Jacobine, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p- 55. pl. 23.

La Jacobine variée, Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p- 56. pl. 24.

Humming Birds,

 

Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 705.—

Whate-collared Humming-Bird, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 320.

Mellisuga Surinamensis torquata, Briss. Orn. tom. iii. p: 713.—Ib. 8yv
tom. iv. t. 406. fig. 1.

—_—_— Surinamensis, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p- 243.

Ornismya mellwora, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois., p- 90. pl. 21 male, pl. 22 female.

Topaza mellivora, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 110, Topaza, sp. 6.

Florisuga mellivora, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 73.

Trochilus fimbriatus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 493.—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p- 312.

Mellisuga Cayenensis gutture nevio, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 706. pl. xxxvi. fig. 2.—Ib. 8vo.
tom. 1. p. 33.

Oiseau-mouche a gorge tachetée, Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 31.—Pl. Enl. 276. fig. 2.—
Aud. et Vieill. Ois. dor., tom. i. p. 53. pl. 22.

Spotted-necked Humming-Bird, Lath. Gen. Syn., tom. ii. p: 772.-lb. Gen. Mist., vol:iv, pad2s.

Whate-collared Humming-Bird, both var., Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 321.

Topaza fimbriata, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Topaza, sp. 7.

o. tom. u. p. 35.—Gerin.,

 

Tuts species is one of the most widely diffused of the Zrochitde with which I am acquainted ; it is also
one of the oldest known, and consequently one of the species most abundant in our collections: I have
specimens from Guiana, Trinidad, Cayenne, Sta Fé de Bogota and Peru; and Mr. Wallace, who is seeking
Humming-Birds expressly for my work, has lately sent numerous specimens of both sexes from Cobati and
Guia on the Upper Rio Negro,—a tolerable evidence that the species ranges over all the districts lying
between the distant countries of Cayenne and Peru. It appears to be better adapted for low and fluviatile
countries than for those of a more elevated character; for Mr. Wallace, writing from the Rio Negro, says,
‘‘ Although I have come seventeen hundred miles from Para into the interior of the country, I am not more
than one or two hundred feet above the level of the sea.” It is much to be regretted that no account
whatever has been recorded of its habits, &c.

A great diversity exists in the colouring of this species, and much has yet to be learnt as to the changes
to which it is subject ; examples, apparently adult, have in some instances the head and neck intense blue,
while in others the same parts are strongly tinged with green: I also have specimens in which the blue
colouring is interrupted by a mark of rufous extending down the sides of the neck; and others, the sex of
which has been ascertained by dissection to be feminine, which have a considerable amount of blue pervading
the throat, and only a trace of the white nuchal band; while others again are characterized by the mottled

dress represented in the lower figure of the accompanying Plate : the colouring of the tail presents a still
greater diversity, varying from a pearly white, with a narrow edging of (sess brown, to a dark bronzy
green, with a brownish black band towards the extremity, and the outer feathers broadly tipped with
white.

His Excellency Lord Harris, Governor of T rinidad, has 7
e Zoological Society of London; and his Lordship has kindly promised
s government he will pay considerable attention to the natural history of

and communicate the result of his observations for the enrichment
’

lately brought fine examples from thence to this

country and presented them to th
that on his return to the seat of bi
the Trochilide whabiting that fine island

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

of the present work ; I trust, therefore, before its close to clear up the confusion which at present exists

of plumage to which this and other species are subject.

 

with respect to the char

Some adult males have the head, neck and breast rich deep shining blue margined posteriorly with green,
a broad Iunate mark of white at the nape of the neck ; wing-coverts, back, the very lengthened tail-coverts
and the flanks shining dark grass-green ; wings deep purplish brown ; tail white, very narrowly edged and

more broadly tipped with purplish brown; abdomen, thighs and under tail-coverts white; bill black

 

feathers clothing the tarsi in front black, behind white

 

reen hue increasing in intensity posteriorly 5

Other adult males have the head and neck greenish blue, the
een, and the upper surface and tail-coverts

a broad band across the breast and the flanks shining olive

 

        

   

les, perhaps not fully adult, have the head and neck greenish blue; the white nuchal
mark less a like diversity in the hue of the upper surface, some being green and others bronzy
much more deeply tipped with purplish brown, the extent of the purplish brown tipping being

the tail white,
cowards the outer ones,

 

dually decreasi

 

eneral colouring. is similar, but the tail is deep bronzy

 

which may be a young male, the

 

In ai
green passing into black near the extremity, with the outer three fe

   

broadest on the outer one, and successively less on the two inner ones; the basal portion of the external
web of the outer feather is also white; under tail-coverts greenish grey, with a broad crescent of bluish

black near the extremity, and tipped with white.
In the female, or perhaps the young, the head is greenish brown
ted, the centre of each feather being brown

"upper surface mottled glossy green

tail as in the last described ; throat varie

 

and coppery ;
surrounded with a fringe of white; under tail-coverts 4
this state that the term finbriatus has been applied
Exythrina

senish grey, with a crescent of black near the

 

 

extremity, and tipped with white. It is to the bird
the beautiful plant figured is the

 

The Plate represents two males and a supposed female;

unbrosa of Humboldt and Bonpland.
 

 

 
 

2 ;

UTNE

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 

FLORISUGA FLABELLIFERA, Gowda.

Great Jacobin.

 

Trochilus ( ?) flabelliferus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xiv. p. 45.
Florisuga flabellifera, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 74.

 

Tue chief difference between this species and the Florisuga mellivora consists in its far greater size and in
the browner colouring of the tips of the tail-feathers : the extent of its range is at present unknown, but we
have positive evidence that it is by no means uncommon in the island of Tobago; numerous specimens
having been sent from thence by Mr. Kirk to Sir William Jardine, Bart., to whom I am indebted for the
specimens illustrated in the present work; I have also examples from the Orinoco, and others from
different localities in South America which are at present unknown to me.

The only information I have acquired respecting its habits is contained in the following brief note com-
municated to Sir William Jardine, Bart., by Mr. Kirk :—It is said to be found chiefly in low marshy
situations among the plantain bushes, in company with the Sabre-wing (Campylopterus ensipennis) ; and to

feed constantly on the wing.”

Head, neck and chest rich deep shining blue; back, rump, upper tail-coverts and flanks shining
green; a broad crescent-shaped mark at the nape of the neck, abdomen, under tail-coverts and tail, pure
white, the feathers of the latter bordered at the extremity with purplish brown; wings purplish brown ;
bill black.

Some examples have a stripe of reddish buff running down the sides of the face, but do not otherwise
differ in colouring.

The female has the upper surface coppery bronze; a trace of the white mark on the nape; wings
own; tail bronzy green passing into black near the extremity, with the three outer feathers

purplish br

tipped with white, ; :
throat mottled brown; tail-coverts greenish grey, with a crescent of black near the extremity,

the white tipping being greatest on the outer feather and successively less on the two

inner ones ;
and tipped with white.

This species appears to be <0.
so indeed, that a description of the different styles of plumage of the one would be nearly as descriptive of
those of the other.

The Plate represents two m

subject to the same variations of plumage as the Morisuga mellivora ; so much

ales and a female on one of the plants called Bots «mmortel by the settlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

FLORISUGA ATRA.
Pied Jacobin.

Trochilus ater, Pr. Max. Trav., vol. i. p. 322.
———— atratus, Licht. Verz. der Doubl., p- 14.
niger, Swains. Zool. Ill. 1st Ser., vol. ii. pl. 82.

——— fuscus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. 2nd edit. tom. vii. p. 348.—Ib. Ency. Méth.
Orn., part ii. p. 552.

Ormsmya lugubris, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois. Mou., p. 182. pl. 38 male, pl. 39 female.—Less.
lrenté di Oru: p: 27a:

Colibri leucopygius, Spix, Av. Sp. Nov. Bras., tom i. Pp: SIL it. lxxoay sie es

Negro Humming-Bird, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p- 312.

Melhisuga ater, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 243.

Topaza atra, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 110, Topaza, sp. 4.

Florisuga atra, Bonap. Consp Gen. Av., p- 74.

 

Tue true, if not the restricted, habitat of this species is the eastern portion of Brazil, over which it is
distributed from Pernambuco on the north to Rio Janeiro on the south, from which latter locality

and Bahia few collections are sent to Europe which do not contain specimens; consequently it is one of

the commonest birds in our museums. The changes of plumage to which it is subject are less diversified

than those of Florisuga mellivora and F. flabellifera: when fully adult the female appears to differ from the
male only in her smaller size, and in the black colouring of her head and tacae being less pure, or in other
words, slightly tinged with brown; a rufous moustache, however, commencing eo ue eye and running
down the cides of the neck and sometimes pervading the ear-coverts, is found to exist in some specimens.
It will be recollected that this feature is also observable in some examples of the other two species, but
whether it is indicative of the female sex or of immaturity I am unable to say; a diversity is also found to
exist in the extent of the black tipping of the lateral tail-feathers, some being merely bordered with purplish

black, while others have that hue extending over somewhat more than their apical half.

The male has the whole of the upper and under surface and tail-coverts deep velvety black, glossed on
the tips of the feathers with a bronzy hue; wing-coverts and rump tinged with green 5 wings purplish
brown; two centre tail-feathers black, with bronzy green EMESIS Tater white, with a oe
band of purplish black at the tip; lower part of the flanks white ; tarsi purplish black in front, white behind ;

bill black.
The supposed female is similar in colouring, but 1s of a browner phe: ae
The ficures are of the natural size: the plant is a species of Oncidium, common in Brazil.

§

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
   
   
  
   
 
 
     
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
   
  
 
   
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
    
    
  
   

Snow-cap.

Mellisuga albo-coronata, Laur. Ann. Lye, New

York, vol. vii. 1855, p. 187. pl. iv.

 

In figuring this little Humming-bi :
N Hg § this mming-bird I have the pleasino task ee
é ‘asing task of ring ; I ;
a ee re I g bringing before the notice of my readers
g species of the family that h

as been discovered for man : E 1
y years, and of recording
acknowledgements to a most liber ee ae

al a io Sener aie :

George N. Laurence of New York, tl eae scientific gentleman of the western world. It is to Mr.
y A Oo » > ie 5G 5 é ‘ ee x : Ey
ren, that my thanks are due, not only for the gift of the only example of

fee but for much kindness and attention during my visit to America.
Independently of an intimate acquaintance with other ornithologic
5

this new bird that graces my collection,

oe al groups, Mr. Laurence is an excellent
Trochilidist, and possesses one of the finest collections of the Thochilide out of Europe

On instituting an examination and comparison of this bird w

oa me ith the other forms of the family, I at once
perceived that it differed in its character

. S from every one of them, and, consequently, that it was necessary
to constitute it the type of a new genus, and with the kind assistance of P. L. Sclater, Esq., I have instituted
that of Mcrochera for its reception.

The following extract from Mr. Laurence’s paper on this species, published in the “ Annals of the Lyceum
of New York” as above quoted, comprises all that is at present known respecting it :—

‘In form comparatively short and stout ; bill straight and slender, the nostrils hid by the frontal feathers ;
the wings extend a little beyond the tail, which is slightly rounded; outside of tarsi clothed for half their
length with hair-like feathers; the hind toe as long as the outer one.

“* 4dult.—Front and crown silky white, forming a flattened crest, projecting over the sides of the head, the
feathers of which (although not lustrous) have the scale-like form of metallic ones; all the upper and under
plumage is of a glossy blue-black, having on the neck and upper surface metallic reflections of cupreous red,
most conspicuous on the lower part of the back ; wings purplish black; wing-coverts slightly bronzed with
green ; on the chin is a small tuft of feathers, diverging on each side, of a dull green, fringed with white ;
the two central tail-feathers are deep purple, the others are white at the base for two-thirds of their length
on the lateral feathers, increasing to three-quarters on the others, with a terminal band of bluish black edged
with white; the outer margins of the outside tail-feathers are black; the upper tail-coverts have crimson-
purple reflexions, the lower are white; in the dried specimen the upper mandible is black, the lower brown-
ish yellow; the feathers on the tarsi are brown, terminating with white; tarsi and upper surface of feet
brown, underneath the feet are yellow. ;

“«¢ Young.—Two specimens of young birds have the white crest-feathers appearing a the bill and more
the edges of the crown, the centre of the crown being dull metallic green ; the black of the under surface
is intermixed with white; the upper plumage is green, with crimson reflexions on the rump; the tail is
marked the same as in the adult, except in being more tipped with white. et

“Length, 22 inches ; bill, +; wing, 13; tail, 2. The young do not differ much in size from the adult.

«© Habitat.—Veraguas, New Grenada.

« At first view the full-plumaged bird has the appe

reflexions are not very observable except on examination. ae
been able to ascertain, is unique among its kindred in

arance of being only black and white, as the metallic

“It is a very small species, and, as far as I have
having the crown entirely white.
«The specimens were presented to me by

below, a very interesting account of their habits. a
2, while stationed in the district of Bele

ety of the Humming-bird family.
ig its feathers. I was doubtful for a few moments

xamination I convinced myself of the fact and

Dr. J. K. Merrit, who has furnished, in the note which is given

- n, Veraguas, New Grenada, that
«<< Tt was in the autumn of 185

I obtained several specimens of this diminutive vari

: ig plumit
“<The first one I saw was perched on a twig plu

a bird, but upon close e and
and for a time I watched its movements before shooting

surface of the water, and then as

whether so small an object could be
secured it. Another I encountered while bathing,
ould poise itself about three eet
so as to dip its mini
as it had descended.
and down it would repeat in rapi¢

ter for such a diminutive creature.
fe ;
d pluming its feathers.

feet or so above the

co ature head in the placid pool; then up again to its

quick as thought dart downwards,
original position, quite as quickly
«<«These movements of darting up

ce of the surface of the wa 3 i:
i jo near and, and commenc
it alighted on a twig near at hand, <

1 succession, which produced not a
After a considerable

i ’
moderate disturban ;
number of dippings, 7
The plant is the Dichorisandra picta.

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