ere

INTE OD TC TRON:

MGT
Coeligena purpurea, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 3, pl. 753. figs 4727-28.
Lampropygia purpurea, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. Da iL mone.
Habitat. Popayan.
284. LampropyGia PRUNELLEI.
Ceeligena Prunelli : ' ; : i : ; ‘ } ‘ ; ; Vol. IV. Pl. 257.
Bourcierta Prunelh, Reichenb.'Troch Enum. p. 7, pl. 750. figs. 4721-22.
Homophania Prunelli, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 79.
Habitat. Andes of New Granada. Common in collections from Bogota.
285. Lampropyai1a WILsoNnt.
Ceeligena Wilsoni f : : : ; : : ‘ ; : : Vol. IV. Pl. 258.

Habitat. Ecuador.

A group rather than a genus next claims our attention; for two or three very well-marked divisions occur
among the birds I have figured under the generic name of Heliomaster. Unlike the last, which are confined within
certain limits, these birds are widely spread, some of them over Mexico and Central America, and others over
Venezuela, and even further south than the latitude of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The members of this section of the Trochilide are of rather large size, have long straight bills, lengthened
wings, and a structure admirably adapted for aérial progression. The males are mostly clothed with fine colours
on the crown and throat.

The species of the

Genus HeExiomasrer, Bonap.,

as now restricted, are at least five or six in number, and four of them are inhabitants of Central America or
countries north of the Isthmus of Panama. Their short, nearly square tails, the outer feathers of which, together

with their under tail-coverts, are spotted with white, render them very conspicuous.

286. HELIOMASTER LONGIROSTRIS “ : ; : ; : : : : Vol. IV. Pl. 259.
Selasphorus longirostris, Reichenb., Troch. Enum. p. 11.
Habitat. Trinidad.

287. HELioMASTER Stuarts, Lawr.

Heliomaster longirostris, Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part xxv. p. 16.
Stuarte, Lawr. Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. in New York, April 9, 1860.

 

Habitat. New Granada; the neighbourhood of Bogota.

Mr. G. N. Lawrence, of New York, considers the bird from Bogota to be distinct from the Heliomaster
longirostris of Trinidad, and has assigned to it the distinctive appellation of Stwarte, in honour of a most estimable
lady, the wife of R. L. Stuart, Esq., of New York.

For my own part, I have always regarded the Bogota and Trinidad birds as one and the same; but Mr.
Lawrence has ever maintained that they are distinct ; and on the day when these remarks were written I received
from him a copy of the first part of his paper entitled “‘ Catalogue of a Collection of Birds made in New Granada,
by James McLennan, Esq., of New York,” in which, referring to his Heliomaster Stuarte, he says :—<‘ Since
describing this species, I have had an opportunity of examining seven other specimens from Bogota. I find the
bills of these to be quite as long as those of H. longirostris ; but they are much stouter, and the base of the bill is
very broad and bare of feathers, whereas in Jlongirostris the bill is comparatively narrow at the base, and the
feathers extend quite forward on the bill. These differences were constant in an equal number of each species.”

Whether the birds are really distinct or mere local varieties, time and the acquisition of a larger number of
specimens must determine. I have in my own collection two specimens of another bird of this form, which bear a
very general resemblance both in size and markings ; but the crown, instead of being bluish green, is positive blue.
So decided is this colour, that I have no hesitation in saying that, if so slight a difference is allowed to separate the
Bogotan and Trinidadian birds, these also must be regarded as belonging to a distinct species, and the term
Sclatert, which has been proposed by Dr. Cabanis, be used for them. I have two very fine males of this bird in
fully adult plumage, killed by M. Warszewicz in Costa Rica; but in what particular locality, is unknown to me.

Besides the Costa-Rican bird, I have another, still more different, from Southern Mexico, a most charming