Chapter XXVII: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (18)

The birds of this species make their appearance on our southern border late in March, and slowly move northward in their migrations, reaching Upper Georgia about the 10th of April, Pennsylvania from the last of April to about the middle of May, and farther north the last of May or the first of June. They nest in Massachusetts about the 10th of June, and are about thirteen days between the full number of eggs and the appearance of the young. They resent any approach to their nest, and will even make angry movements around the head of the intruder, uttering a sharp outcry. Other than this I have never heard them utter any note.

Attempts to keep in confinement the Humming-Bird have been only partially successful. They have been known to live, at the best, only a few months, and soon perish, partly from imperfect nourishment and unsuitable food, and probably also from insufficient warmth.

Numerous examinations of stomachs of these birds, taken in a natural state, demonstrate that minute insects constitute a very large proportion of their necessary food. These are swallowed whole. The young birds feed by putting their own bills down the throats of their parents, sucking probably a prepared sustenance of nectar and fragments of insects. They raise, I think, but one brood in a season. The young soon learn to take care of themselves, and appear to remain some time after their parents have left. They leave New England in September, and have all passed southward beyond our limits by November.

A nest of this bird, from Dr. Gerhardt, of Georgia, measures 1.75 inches in its external diameter and 1.50 in height. Its cavity measures 1.00 in depth and 1.25 inches in breadth. It is of very homogeneous construction, the material of which it is made being almost exclusively a substance of vegetable origin, resembling wool, coarse in fibre, but soft, warm, and yielding, of a deep buff color. This is strengthened, on the outside, by various small woody fibres; the whole, on the outer surface, entirely and compactly covered by a thatching of small lichens, a species of _Parmelia_.

A nest obtained in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, in June, 1860, was built on a horizontal branch of an apple-tree. It measures 1.50 inches in height, and 2.25 in its external diameter. The cavity is more shallow, measuring .70 of an inch in depth and 1.00 in diameter. It is equally homogeneous in its composition, being made of very similar materials. In this case, however, the soft woolly material of which it is woven is finer in fibre, softer and more silky, and of the purest white color. It is strengthened on the base with pieces of bark, and on the sides with fine vegetable fibres. The whole nest is beautifully covered with a compact coating of lichens, a species of _Parmelia_, but different from those of the Georgian nest.

The fine silk-like substance of which the nest from Lynn is chiefly composed is supposed to be the soft down which appears on the young and unexpanded leaves of the red-oak, immediately before their full development. The buds of several of the oaks are fitted for a climate liable to severe winters, by being protected by separate downy scales surrounding each leaf. In Massachusetts the red-oak is an abundant tree, expands its leaves at a convenient season for the Humming-Bird, and these soft silky scales which have fulfilled their mission of protection to the embryo leaves are turned to a good account by our tiny and watchful architect. The species in Georgia evidently make use of similar materials from one of the southern oaks.

The eggs measure .50 by .35 of an inch, and are of a pure dull white.

Trochilus alexandri, BOURC. & MULSANT.

BLACK-CHINNED HUMMING-BIRD.

_Trochilus alexandri_, BOURCIER & MULSANT, Ann. de la Soc. d’Agric.
de Lyons, IX, 1846, 330.—HEERMANN, Jour. A. N. Sc. Phila. 2d
ser. II, 1853, 269.—CASSIN, Ill. N. Am. Birds, I, V, 1854,
141, pl. xxii.—GOULD, Mon. Trochilidæ, XIV, Sept. 1857,
plate.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 133, pl. xliv, f. 3.—IB. M.
B. II, Birds, 6, pl. v, f. 3.—HEERM. X, S, 56.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 1870, 353.

SP. CHAR. Very similar to _Trochilus colubris_. Tail slightly forked; the chin and upper part of the throat opaque velvety-black, without metallic reflections, which are confined to the posterior border of the gorget, and are violet, sometimes changing to steel blue or green, instead of coppery-red. _Female_ without the metallic scales; the tail-feathers tipped with white; the tail graduated, not emarginated; the innermost feather among the longest. Length of male, 3.30; wing, 1.70; tail, 126; bill, .75.

_Hab._ Coast of California, southward, and east to the Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains, Utah.

[Line drawing: ♂ _juv._ _Trochilus alexandri._ 4963 ♀ ]

The chief characters of this species are to be found in the violet, steel-blue, or steel-green reflections of the hinder part of the gorget, varying with the situation of the feathers and the specimen, as distinguished from the bright fiery or coppery red of the other. The chin and upper part of the throat extending beneath the eyes are opaque velvety or greenish black, without metallic lustre, while in _T. colubris_ it is only the extreme chin which is thus dull in appearance. The bill is about .10 of an inch longer, the tail less deeply forked, and tinged with green at the end.

It is exceedingly difficult to distinguish the female of this species from that of _T. colubris_. The size is rather larger, and the tail rounded, without any distinct emargination; the middle feathers being .15 of an inch longer than the lateral ones, instead of actually shorter. The color is much the same. The primaries are also much broader in the present species.

In both species the outer tail-feathers, though broader than in the male, are quite acutely pointed on the terminal third, one side or the other of which is slightly concave, instead of being linear to near the end, and rounded without any concavity, as in _Selasphorus_ and _Calypte_.

HABITS. This Humming-Bird, originally described as a Mexican species, is found from the highlands of that republic northward, not only to the southern borders of the western United States, but as far north as the 58th parallel. It was first discovered on the table-lands of Mexico, east of the city, by Signor Floresi, a distinguished naturalist, who devoted himself to the study of the _Trochilidæ_ of Mexico, but was first added to the fauna of North America by Dr. Heermann, who detected it, and obtained several specimens, within the burying-ground of Sacramento City, Cal. There several pairs remained during the period of incubation, and reared their young, finding both food and shelter among the flowering plants of that cemetery. He found several of their nests which were essentially similar to the _T. colubris_.

Dr. Cooper met with this species along the Mohave River. He saw the first on the 3d of June. He also found one of their nests built in a dark willow-thicket in the fork of a tree, eight feet from the ground. Those afterwards found near Santa Barbara were all built near the end of hanging branches of the sycamore, constructed of white down from willow catkins, agglutinated by the bird’s saliva, and thus fastened to the branch on which it rested. These were built in the latter part of April, and early in May contained two eggs, exactly resembling those of the _T. colubris_, and measuring .51 by .32 of an inch.

Afterwards Mr. W. W. Holden obtained a specimen in the Colorado Valley, March 20.

Mr. J. K. Lord, one of the English commissioners of the Northwestern Boundary Survey, met with this species near his camping-place on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. This was near a lake, by the margin of which, with other trees, grew a number of the black birch. On these trees he found a sweet gummy sap exuding plentifully from splits in the bark, and on this sap hosts of insects, large and small, were regaling themselves. As the sap was very sticky, numbers of the smaller winged insects were trapped in it. Busily employed in picking off and devouring these captive insects were several very sombre-looking Humming-Birds, poising themselves over the flowers, and nipping off, as with delicate forceps, the imprisoned insects. Upon securing one of these birds, he ascertained that it belonged to this species. This was pretty satisfactory proof that they are insect-eaters. Not only on this occasion, but many times afterwards, Mr. Lord saw this bird pick the insects from the tree; and the stomachs of those he killed, on being opened, were filled with various kinds of winged insects. He found this bird lingering around lakes, pools, and swamps, where these birches grow. They generally build in the birch or alder, selecting the fork of a branch high up.

This species bears a very close resemblance in size, appearance, and markings, to the common eastern species, but is readily distinguishable by the difference in the color of the chin and the shape of the tail.

In the spring of 1851, on a trip to Sonora, Mexico, Dr. Heermann found these birds abundant in the arid country around Guaymas, where amid the scanty vegetation they had constructed their nests in the month of April. He also afterwards found them on Dry Creek and the Cosumnes River.

According to the observations of Mr. Ridgway, this species has quite an extended distribution in the West. He found it in varying abundance from the Sacramento Valley, in California, to the Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains in Utah.

At Sacramento it was more abundant than the _C. anna_, nesting in the door-yards and in gardens, but particularly in the thick copses of small oaks in the outskirts of the city. In the Great Basin it associated with the _Selasphorus rufus_ in the western portion, and with _S. platycercus_ to the eastward, nesting everywhere, from the lowest valleys to a height of eight or nine thousand feet in the mountains.

GENUS CALYPTE, GOULD.

_Calypte_, GOULD, Introd. Trochilidæ, 1861, 87. (Type, _Ornysmya
costæ_.)

[Line drawing: _Calypte costæ._
39399 ♂ 39400 ♀]

GEN. CHAR. Bill longer than the head, straight or slightly curved; tail rather short. Outer primary not attenuated at end. Top of head, as well as throat, with metallic scale-like feathers, a decided and elongated ruff on each side the neck.

The metallic feathers on top of head, the attenuated outer tail-feathers (except in _C. helenæ_), and the elongated ruff, distinguish the males of this genus very readily from any other in North America.

Species.

A. No rufous on tail-feathers; tail forked or emarginated.

_a._ Lateral tail-feather as broad as the others; tail
emarginated. Rump and middle tail-feathers blue.

C. helenæ.[114] Very small (wing, 1.15); metallic hood
and ruff of the male purplish-red. _Hab._ Cuba.

_b._ Lateral tail-feather abruptly narrower than the
others, tail forked. Rump and middle tail-feathers
green.

C. anna. Large (wing, 2.00); outer tail-feather with a
double curve, the end inclining outward. Metallic hood
and ruff of the male purplish-red. _Hab._ California.

C. costæ. Small (wing, 1.75); outer tail-feather with
a simple curve, the end inclining inward. Metallic
hood and ruff of the male violet-blue. _Hab._ Southern
California, Arizona, and Mexico.

B. Inner webs of tail-feathers mostly rufous, and outer
webs edged with the same. Tail rounded. Lateral
tail-feather abruptly narrower than the others.

C. floresi.[115] Size of _C. anna_. Hood and ruff of
the male crimson. _Hab._ Table-lands of Mexico
(Bolanos).

[114] _Calypte helenæ_, (LEMB.) GOULD, Monog. Troch. III,
pl. cxxxvi. _Orthorhynchus helenæ_, LEMB. Aves de l’Isle de
Cuba, p. 70, pl. x, fig. 2. _O. boothi_, GUNDL. MSS. (GOULD,
Monog.).

[115] _Calypte floresi_, (LODD.) _Trochilus floresi_, LODD.
MSS. _Selasphorus floresi_, GOULD, Monog. Troch. III, pl.
cxxxix. There are certainly few reasons for considering this
bird as a _Selasphorus_, while there are many for referring
it to _Calypte_. The only feature that it shares with the
former is the peculiar coloration, and to some extent the
shape, of the tail. However, in _Selasphorus_ the outer
primary is always (in the male) attenuated and acute at the
tip, and the crown is never metallic, while in _Calypte_ the
outer primary is never attenuated nor acute, and the crown
of the male is always metallic. The form and coloration of
the tail are nothing more than a specific character, since
no two species, of either genus, agree in this respect. In
view, then, of these considerations, we find _floresi_ to be
strictly congeneric with the other species of _Calypte_.

Calypte anna, GOULD.

ANNA HUMMING-BIRD.

_Ornismya anna_, LESSON, Oiseaux Mouches, 1830, (?) pl. cxxiv.
_Trochilus anna_, JARDINE, Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, I, 93,
pl. vi.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 428, pl.
ccccxxviii.—IB. Birds America, IV, 1842, 188, pl.
cclii.—HEERM. X, _S_, 56 (nest). _Calliphlox anna_,
GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. III, 1846, 3.—IB. Journ. 2d
ser. I, 1847, 32. _Trochilus (Atthis) anna_, REICHENBACH,
Cab. Jour. Extraheft for 1853, 1854, App. 12. _Trochilus
icterocephalus_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 712
(male with forehead covered with yellow pollen). _Atthis
anna_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 137. _Calypte annæ_,
GOULD, Introd. Trochilidæ.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 358.

[Line drawing: _Calypte anna._
5501 ♂ 44953 ♀]

SP. CHAR. Largest of North American species of Humming-Bird. Tail deeply forked; external feather narrow, linear. Top of the head, throat, and a moderate ruff, metallic crimson-red, with purple reflections. Rest of upper parts and a band across the breast green. Tail-feathers purplish-brown, darkest centrally. In the female the tail is slightly rounded, not emarginate; the scales of the head and throat are wanting. Tail barred with black, and tipped with white. Length, about 3.60; wing, 2.00; tail, 1.45.

HAB. Mexico and coast region of California.

The _C. floresi_ of the table-lands of Mexico resembles this species in every respect except the tail, which is somewhat like that of _Selasphorus rufus_. The only North American species to which the male of this bird bears any resemblance is the _A. costæ_, which has the same metallic crown and other generic features. The latter, however, is much smaller; has the metallic reflections varied, chiefly violet, instead of nearly uniform purplish-red. The tail is much less deeply forked, the depth being only about .10 of an inch, instead of .32; the outer feather is much narrower. The females of the two, however, appear to be distinguishable only by their relative size. The absence of rufous, and the rounded, not graduated, tail always separates the female of _anna_ from that of _Selasphorus rufus_. The larger size is the chief distinction from the female _Calypte costæ_, while the size and less acutely pointed outer tail-feathers distinguish it from the female _Trochilus colubris_.

We have never seen any specimens of this bird taken out of California, nor quoted of late years as occurring in Mexico, although stated by Gould to belong to the table-lands.

HABITS. This beautiful Humming-Bird is found from the high table-lands of Mexico throughout the western portions of that region, and through all the coast country of California, from the slopes of the Sierra to the ocean. It was first taken in Mexico, and named in honor of Anna, Duchess of Rivoli. Mr. Nuttall was the first of our own naturalists to take it within our territory. He captured a female on its nest near Santa Barbara. This was described and figured by Audubon. The nest was attached to a small burnt twig of _Photinia_, and was small for the bird, being only 1.25 inches in breadth. It was somewhat conic in shape, made of the down of willow catkins, intermixed with their scales, and a few feathers, the latter forming the lining. It had none of the neatness of the nests of our common species, and was so rough on the outside that Mr. Nuttall waited several days in expectation of its being completed, and found the female sitting on two eggs when he caught her. Dr. Cooper, however, thinks this description applies much better to the nest of _T. alexandri_, as all that he has seen of this species are twice as large, and covered externally with lichens, even when on branches not covered with these parasites.

Dr. Gambel, in his paper published in 1846 on the birds of California, describes this as a very abundant species, numbers of which pass the entire winter in California. At such times he found them inhabiting sheltered hillsides and plains, where, at all seasons, a few bushy plants were in flower and furnished them with a scanty subsistence. In the latter part of February and during March they appeared in greater numbers. About the Pueblo the vineyards and the gardens were their favorite resort, where they build a delicate downy nest in small flowering bushes, or in a concealed spot about a fence. In April and May they may be seen in almost every garden.

In the wilder portions of the country Dr. Gambel found them attaching their nest almost exclusively to low horizontal branches of the _Quercus agrifolia_, or evergreen oak, so common in that region. The nest he describes as small, only about an inch in depth, and 1.25 inches in diameter, formed in the most delicate manner of pappus and down of various plants matted into a soft felt, with spider’s-webs, which he frequently observed them collecting for the purpose, in the spring, along hedges and fence-rows. The base of the nest is formed of a few dried male aments of the oak, which, with the adjoining felt-like matting of pappus, are agglutinated and bound around the twig with a thick layer of spider’s-webs. The note of this bird, he states, is a slender _chep_, frequently repeated. During the breeding-season they are very pugnacious, darting like meteors among the trees, uttering a loud and repeated twittering scold. They also have the habit of ascending to a considerable height, and then of descending with great rapidity, uttering at the same time a peculiar cry. The glutinous pollen of a tubular flower upon which these birds feed often adheres to the rigid feathers of the crown, and causes the bird to seem to have a bright yellow head. Nuttall, who never obtained the male of this species, but saw them in this condition, supposed this to be a yellow spot in the crown, and hence his supposed species of _icterocephalus_.

In California, south of San Francisco, this species was also observed, by Dr. Cooper, to be a constant resident in mild winters, remaining among the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, at least fifteen hundred feet above the sea. There he has found them quite common in February. At that season flowers, and consequently insects, are more abundant than in the dry summers. The males are in fine plumage early in January.

Dr. Cooper states that the nests of this species are built at various heights and positions, often in gardens, and sometimes on dead branches, without any attempt at concealment except the outside covering of lichens. He has found them made almost wholly of mosses, with only a lining of feathers and down of plants. In the neighborhood of San Francisco the young are sometimes hatched as early as the middle of March. This species appears to be more hardy than the others, being common along the coast border, though Dr. Cooper saw none near the summits of the Sierra Nevada.

The notes of the male bird, he states, are like the sound produced by the filing of a saw or the whetting of a scythe. They enter familiarly into the city of San Francisco, and even venture into rooms, attracted by the flowers. They are bold and confident, approach to within a few feet of man, but at the least motion disappear like a flash.

Dr. Heermann found this species quite common at San Diego in March, and in its full spring plumage. In September he procured a number of specimens on a small island in the Cosumnes River. While on the wing in pursuit of insects, or after alighting on a small branch, he heard them utter a very weak twitter, continued for a minute or more.

A nest of this species from Petaluma is about 1.50 inches in diameter, and 1.00 in height, and bears no resemblance to the one described by Nuttall. It is made of a commingling of mosses and vegetable down, covered externally with a fine yellow lichen. The eggs measure .60 by .40 of an inch, and are about ten per cent larger than those of any other North American Humming-Bird.

Another nest of this Humming-Bird, obtained in Petaluma, Cal., by Mr. Emanuel Samuels, measures 1.75 inches in diameter, and about 1.00 in height. Its cavity is one inch in diameter at the rim, and half an inch in depth. Its lining is composed of such soft materials that its limits are not well defined. The base of the nest is made of feathers, mosses, and lichens of several varieties of the smaller kinds. The periphery and rim of the nest are of nearly the same materials. The inner fabric consists of a mass of a dirty-white vegetable wool, with a lining of the very finest and softest of feathers, intermingled with down from the seeds of some species of silkweed. The predominant lichen in the base and sides of the nest is the _Ramalina menziesii_, which is peculiar to California. The nest contained a single egg.

Calypte costæ, GOULD.

COSTA’S HUMMING-BIRD; RUFFED HUMMER.

_Ornismya costæ_, BOURCIER, Rev. Zoöl. Oct. 1839, 294 (Lower
California).—IB. Ann. Sc. Phys. et d’Hist. Nat. de Lyon, 1840,
225, tab. ii.—PREVOST & DES MURS, Voyage de la Venus, Zool. I,
1855, 194, Atlas, tab. ii, f. 1, 2. _Selasphorus costæ_, BON.
Conspectus Avium, I, 1850, 82. _Atthis costæ_, REICHENBACH,
Cab. Jour. für Orn. Extraheft, 1853, 1854.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 138, pl. xix.—KENNERLY, P. R. R. x, b, 36, pl. xix.
_Calypte costæ_, GOULD, Mon. Humming-Birds.—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
I, 1870, 360.

SP. CHAR. Tail very slightly emarginated and rounded; exterior feather very narrow, and linear. A very long ruff on each side of the throat. Head above and below, with the ruff, covered with metallic red, purple and violet (sometimes steel green). Remaining upper parts and sides of the body green. Throat under and between the ruffs, side of head behind the eye, anal region, and under tail-coverts whitish. Female with the tail rounded, scarcely emarginate; barred with black, and tipped with white. The metallic colors of the head wanting. Length, 3.20; wing, 1.75; tail, 1.10; bill, .68.

HAB. Mexico, Southern California, and the Colorado Basin, Monterey (NEBOUX). Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 57).

Specimens vary considerably in the color of the ruff, which, however, is only occasionally green; violet being the prevailing shade. The length of this appendage varies considerably.

The female of this species differs much from the male in the absence of the metallic scales on the head and throat. It has a close resemblance to the female _T. colubris_, although the bill is smaller and narrower. The tail-feathers are narrower, more linear, and less acutely pointed at the tip. The black on the outer tail-feathers, instead of extending very nearly to the base, is confined to the terminal half, the basal portion being green. All the tail-feathers are terminated by white, although that on the fourth and fifth is very narrow. In _T. colubris_ this color is confined to the three outer ones. The much smaller size will alone distinguish it from the female of _C. anna_.

HABITS. This species is a Mexican bird, first discovered by Signor Floresi among the valleys of the Sierra Madre, in that country, throughout the western portions of which it is said to be an abundant species, as well as along our southern borders, whence it extends into New Mexico, the Colorado Valley, Southern California, and Arizona. It was first described by Bourcier in 1839, and named in honor of the Marquis de Costa, of Chambery.

Mr. Xantus found this species exceedingly abundant at Cape St. Lucas. It has also been found on the eastern coast of the Gulf of California, at Guaymas, and Mazatlan, and also on the table-lands of Mexico.

It was first added to our fauna by Dr. Kennerly, who obtained specimens near Bill Williams Fork, in New Mexico, February 9, 1854. At that early season a few flowers had already expanded beneath the genial rays of the sun, and around them the party rarely failed to find these beautiful birds. They had already paired, and were constantly to be seen hovering over the flowers. Their notes consisted of a rapid chirping sound. As Dr. Kennerly’s party approached the coast of California, where the valleys abounded with flowers of every hue, these birds continued flitting before them in great numbers. Dr. Coues states that this species was not taken at Fort Whipple, though abundantly distributed throughout the Territory, particularly in its southern and southwestern portions, and found about fifty miles south of Prescott. It is presumed to winter within the Territory, and also within the valley of the Colorado. Dr. Cooper did not observe any at Fort Mohave until March 5, and they were not numerous afterwards. At San Diego, in 1862, when the spring was unusually backward, he saw none before April 22, and he has since met with them as far north as San Francisco, where, however, they are rare. The notes uttered by the male he compares to the highest and sharpest note that can be drawn from a violin. Nothing more is known as to their distinctive specific peculiarities.

GENUS SELASPHORUS, SWAINSON.

_Selasphorus_, SWAINSON, F. B. A. II, 1831, 324. (Type, _Trochilus
rufus_.)

[Line drawing: _Selasphorus rufus._
2896 ♂]

As already stated, the characters of _Selasphorus_, as distinguished from _Calypte_ (to which it is most nearly related, through the _C. floresi_), consist in the lack of metallic feathers on the crown, and in the attenuation of the outer primary, and the pointed and acuminate cuneate (instead of forked) tail.

As distinguished from _Trochilus_, the quills diminish gradually, instead of showing an abrupt transition between the fourth and fifth, so characteristic of the two species of _Trochilus_, as restricted. The very attenuated tip of the outer primary is a character entirely peculiar to _Selasphorus_.

The two North American species, though strictly congeneric, differ from each other considerably in details of form, as well as in color. They may be distinguished from each other and from their two Central American allies as follows:—

Species and Varieties.

A. Feathers of the metallic gorget not elongated
laterally.

S. platycercus. Above continuous metallic green;
tail-feathers merely edged with rufous. Gorget
purplish-red.

Wing, 1.90; tail, 1.40; bill (from forehead), .66.
Gorget rich solferino-purple, the feathers
grayish-white beneath the surface. Outer primary with
its attenuated tip turned outward. _Hab._ Rocky
Mountains and Middle Province of United States, south
to Guatemala var. _platycercus_.

Wing, 1.65; tail, 1.20; bill, .41. Gorget dull
velvety-crimson, the feathers ochraceous beneath the
surface. Outer primary apparently with its attenuated
tip curved inward. _Hab._ Costa Rica var. _flammula_.[116]

B. Feathers of the metallic gorget much elongated
laterally.

S. rufus. Above chiefly rufous, overlaid by green
(except in _S. scintilla_, which is almost wholly green
above); tail-feathers rufous with a shaft-streak of
dusky. Gorget fiery red. Attenuated tip of outer primary
curved inwards.

Wing, 1.60; tail, 1.30; bill, .65. Rufous prevailing
above; gorget very brilliant. _Hab._ Western Province
of North America, from East Humboldt Mountains to the
Pacific. North to Sitka, south to Mirador var. _rufus_.

Wing, 1.35; tail, 1.00 to 1.10; bill, .42. Continuous
green above; gorget not brilliant, but with a dusty
appearance. Tail less graduated. _Hab._ Costa Rica and
Chiriqui var. _scintilla_.[117]

[116] _Selasphorus_ (_platycercus_, var. ?) _flammula_
(SALV.). _Selasphorus flammula_, SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1864
(Costa Rica). (Described above from specimen in Mr.
Lawrence’s collection.)

[117] _Selasphorus_ (_rufus_ var. ?) _scintilla_ (GOULD).
_Selasphorus scintilla_, GOULD, P. Z. S. 1850, 162, Monog.
Troch. III, pl. cxxxviii. The foregoing species are so
similar in all essential respects to the northern _S.
platycercus_ and _S. rufus_, that it is exceedingly probable
that they are merely the southern forms of those species.
Both differ in exactly the same respects from their northern
representatives, namely, in smaller size and less burnished
throat, and to a very slight degree only in form. The only
specimen of the _S. flammula_ that we have examined is a
badly shot male in Mr. Lawrence’s collection; what appears
to be the outer primary in this specimen is not attenuated
at the tip, which is curved inward, instead of acutely
attenuated and turned outward as in _platycercus_; the wings
are badly cut with shot, however, and the first primary may
be wanting.

Selasphorus rufus, SWAINSON.

RUFOUS-BACKED HUMMING-BIRD.

_Trochilus rufus_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 497.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
IV, 1838, 555, pl. ccclxxii. _Selasphorus rufus_, SWAINSON,
F.-Bor. Am. II, 1831, 324.—AUD. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 200, pl.
ccliv.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 134.—_Cooper & Suckley_,
164.—_Dall & Bannister_, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 275
(Alaska).—_Finsch_, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 29 (Alaska).—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 355. _Trochilus collaris_, LATH.
(Bonaparte). _Trochilus sitkensis_, RATHKE (Bonaparte).
_Ornysmia sasin_, LESSON (Bonaparte).

SP. CHAR. Tail strongly cuneate and wedge-shaped. Upper parts, lower tail-coverts, and breast cinnamon. A trace of metallic green on the crown, which sometimes extends over the back, never on the belly. Throat coppery red, with a well-developed ruff of the same; below this a white collar. Tail-feathers cinnamon, edged or streaked at the end with purplish-brown. _Female_ with the rufous of the back covered or replaced with green; less cinnamon on the breast. Traces only of metallic feathers on the throat. Tail rufous, banded with black and tipped with white; middle feathers glossed with green at the end. Tail still cuneate. Length of male, 3.50; wing, 1.55; tail, 1.30.

HAB. West coast of North America, and across from Gulf of California to the Upper Rio Grande Valley, and along the table-lands of Mexico, south; in Middle Province east to East Humboldt Mountains.

Specimens from the table-lands of Mexico are smaller than those from Oregon, and have yellower, less ruby throats.

HABITS. This brilliant species has an extended distribution throughout the western part of North America, being found from the valley of the Rio Grande to the Pacific, and from Mexico to Sitka. It was first discovered near Nootka Sound, by that distinguished navigator, Captain Cook, and described by Latham, and has been met with as far to the south as Real del Monte, on the table-lands of Mexico, by Mr. Taylor, whose specimens were described by Mr. Swainson.

Dr. Coues found it very abundant at Arizona, near Fort Whipple, as it is also along the whole slope of the Rocky Mountains. It is a summer resident in that Territory, and breeds there abundantly, arriving at Fort Whipple April 10, and remaining until the middle of September, being found in all situations, particularly meadows, open copses, ravines, etc., where flowers are most abundant.

Mr. Dall gives them as common summer residents at Sitka. Bischoff obtained sixteen specimens. Dr. Suckley says they are very abundant in the western provinces of both Oregon and Washington Territory, and in Vancouver Island. They appear to be very hardy, and are one of the earliest of the migratory birds to arrive in spring. At Fort Steilacoom, latitude 47°, they appeared April 10. They are supposed to commence their southern migrations from that region in September,—a move induced by the scarcity of flowers and lack of means of captivating insects, rather than by cold. In Washington Territory their incubation commences about the 10th of May, and is made evident by the fierce and angry battles continually occurring between the male birds, in which they tilt at each other at full speed, at the same time keeping up a loud and vociferous squeaking and buzzing.

A nest with eggs, of this species, obtained by Dr. Cooper near Fort Slaughter, May 23, was found in the forked branch of a snowberry-bush. It was composed principally of fine green moss, lined internally with the delicate floss of the cottonwood, and externally bordered most artistically with rock lichens. The female was on the nest, and allowed so near an approach as almost to admit of being grasped by the hand. The nest was 2.00 inches in diameter and 1.50 in height. The eggs measured .45 by .33 of an inch, and were white, as in all the species.

Dr. Cooper states that the appearance of this species at the Straits of Fuca is coincident with the blossoming of the red-flowering currant, which begins to bloom on the Columbia March 10. The male of this species has a remarkable habit, when a stranger or a wild animal approaches its nest, of rising to a great height in the air, and of then darting down perpendicularly upon the intruder, producing a hollow rushing sound, like that of the Night-Hawk, but of a much sharper tone. These sounds are produced by the wings. In July, when flowers are more abundant among the mountain summits, they leave the lower country. Dr. Cooper found them abundant in August at an elevation of nearly six thousand feet, and where ice was formed at night in their camp.

In California, Dr. Cooper has not found any of this species remaining in winter, even at San Diego, where, however, he has known them to arrive as early as the 5th of February. He also saw several on the 22d of the same month feeding among the flowers of the evergreen gooseberry. By the first of April they were swarming about San Diego. Their young are hatched before the middle of June. When perching, this species is said to utter a shrill wiry call, like the highest note of a violin. They also produce a curious kind of bleating sound. They are among the most noisy and lively of their race, are very quarrelsome, chase each other away from favorite flowers, rising into the air until out of sight, chirping as they go in the most excited manner.

Mr. Lord noticed the arrival of this species at Little Spokan River, in latitude 49°, early in May. He found their nests usually in low shrubs and close to rippling streams. The females of this and other species are said to arrive about a week later than the males.

Dr. Heermann for several successive seasons found many pairs of these birds breeding in the vicinity of San Francisco.

Mr. Nuttall compares the appearance of the male birds of this species, when he approached too near their nests, to an angry coal of brilliant fire, as they darted upon him, passing within a few inches of his face as they returned again and again to the attack, making a sound as of a breaking twig.

Dr. Woodhouse, who found this bird abundant in New Mexico, particularly in the vicinity of Santa Fé, speaks of the great noise they make for so small a bird, and of their quarrelsome and pugnacious disposition.

Mr. R. Brown, in his synopsis of the birds of Vancouver Island, notes the appearance of this species, from the end of March to the beginning of May, according to the state of the season. Its nest was built on the tips of low bushes, or the under branches of trees. This was the only species of Humming-Bird seen west of the Cascade Mountains.

The Rufous Hummer was first noticed by Mr. Ridgway in the valley of the Truckee River, in August, where it was the only species shot, and was extremely abundant among the sunflowers which ornament the meadows. In May of the succeeding year, when the same locality was again visited, not one of this species was to be found, its place being apparently supplied by the _T. alexandri_, which was quite common, and breeding. Eastward it was met with as far as the East Humboldt Mountains, where, however, only a single pair was seen, and one of them shot, in September.

Selasphorus platycercus, GOULD.

BROAD-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD.

_Trochilus platycercus_, SW. Philos. Mag. I, 1827, 441 (Mexico).
_Selasphorus platycercus_, GOULD, Mon. Trochilid. or
Humming-Birds, III, May, 1852.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 135,
pl. xliii, figs. 1 and 2.—COOPER, Pr. Cal. Ac. 1868 (Lake
Tahoe).—IB. Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 357. _Ornismia tricolor_,
LESSON, Colibris, 125 (no date), pl. xiv (Brazil).—IB.
Trochilide. 1831, 156, pl. lx (Mexico).—JARDINE, Nat. Lib. II,
77, pl. xiii. _Ornismya montana_, LESSON, Trochilid. 1831, 161,
pl. lxiii, adult, and 163; pl. lxiv, young (Mexico).

[Line drawing: ♂ 10847 _Selasphorus platycercus._ 10750 ♀]

SP. CHAR. Outer primaries greatly attenuated at the end and turned outward. Outer tail-feathers nearly linear, but widening a little from the base; its width .20 of an inch. Tail slightly graduated and emarginate. _Male_ above and on the sides metallic green; chin and throat light reddish-purple, behind which, and along the belly to the tail, is a good deal of white. Wings and tail dusky purplish; the tail-feathers, excepting the internal and external ones, edged towards the base with light cinnamon. _Female_ without the metallic gorget; the throat-feathers with dusky centres. The tail somewhat cuneate, as in the male, the feathers less pointed; the outer three cinnamon-rufous at base (this extending somewhat along the outer edges), then black, and broadly tipped with white (much as in the male _Atthis heloisa_), the inner two feathers green, the fourth with black spot at end, and only edged at base with rufous. The sides and crissum also tinged with cinnamon. Length, 3.50; wing, 1.92; tail, 1.40. Bill, gape, .80.

HAB. Table-lands of Mexico and Rocky Mountains, and Middle Province of United States, north to Wyoming Territory. Uintah, Wahsatch, and East Humboldt Mountains (RIDGWAY); Sierra Nevada (COOPER); Cordova (SCL. P. Z. S. 1856, 288); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 129); Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 57).

A decided character of this species among its North American relatives is the rufous outer border of the exterior tail-feathers. This rufous in _S. rufus_ pervades most of the feathers, instead of being restricted as above. Females of the two species are not dissimilar: those of _S. platycercus_ are larger, less rufous beneath; the tail-feathers broader and less pointed, and with the inner two (on each side) entirely green to base (the fourth edged with rufous), instead of being principally rufous, except at tip.

Specimens from Mirador, Mexico, are undistinguishable from those of Fort Bridger; those from Guatemala are smaller than the Mexican.

HABITS. Until recently this Humming-Bird has been presumed to be an exclusively Mexican and Central American species. Until taken within our limits, it had been supposed to be confined on the north to the Mexican plateau, westward to the city, and thence southward to Guatemala, while throughout this region it is said to be very generally and very plentifully distributed. It was first taken, in 1851, by Mr. J. H. Clark, near El Paso, Texas. Subsequently numerous specimens were seen by Dr. Coues on the summit of Whipple’s Pass of the Rocky Mountains, in July, feeding among clumps of wild roses. It was not noticed near Fort Whipple, though the range of this species is now well known to include New Mexico and Arizona, as far north, at least, as Fort Bridger in Wyoming. It was found breeding abundantly in the vicinity of Fort Grant, Arizona, by Dr. Palmer.

This Humming-Bird was found by Mr. Allen more or less common among the foot-hills, as well as among the mountains, of Colorado, and extending several miles out on the plains. On Mount Lincoln, in Colorado, he found it exceedingly numerous, and though larger and otherwise different from the eastern Ruby-throat, it might easily be mistaken for it. The shrill whistling of its wings, he adds, is a peculiarity one is sure to notice. This Humming-Bird continued to be common on the sides of Mount Lincoln to far above the timber line, being apparently as much at home among the bright flowers growing on the highest parts of the mountain as in the valleys.

At Lake Tahoe, at an elevation of six thousand feet, Dr. Cooper found the young of this species quite common near the middle of September. Supposing them to be the more common _S. rufus_, he only obtained a single specimen. He thinks that these birds extend their northern migrations as far as the Blue Mountains, near Snake River, Oregon, and that they are the ones referred to by Nuttall as seen by him in autumn, and supposed to be the _rufus_.

The nests of this species procured by Dr. Palmer were large for the size of the bird, unusually broad and shallow, composed of soft downy pappus from seeds of plants, and vegetable down, with the outer walls covered with mosses and lichens. The eggs are not distinguishable from those of the other species.

The Rocky Mountain or Broad-tailed Hummer, according to Mr. Ridgway’s observations, is the most abundant species in the Great Basin, though he did not see it to recognize it west of the East Humboldt Mountains. It is essentially a bird of the mountains, since in that region there are few flowers elsewhere; yet in the gardens of Salt Lake City, an altitude far below its usual habitat, it was abundant. Its favorite resorts are the flowery slopes of the higher and well-watered mountain-ranges of the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain system, at an average elevation of about eight or nine thousand feet, yet it will be found wherever flowers are abundant. Mr. Ridgway saw one at an altitude of about twelve thousand feet, in July, on the East Humboldt Mountains, but it merely passed rapidly by him. In the Wahsatch Mountains, particularly in the neighborhood of Salt Lake City, this species was most plentiful. It there nested abundantly in the scrub-oaks on the hills or slopes of the cañons.

The male bird is very pugnacious, and was observed to attack and drive away an _Accipiter fuscus_, the Hawk retreating as rapidly as possible. When the nest is approached, the male often rises high into the air and then sweeps down almost to the head of the intruder, its swift descent being accompanied by a very peculiar shrill, screeching buzz, of an extraordinary degree of loudness to be produced by so small a creature. The same sound Mr. Ridgway noticed when the bird was passing overhead, in a manner not observed in any other species, its horizontal flight being by a peculiar undulating course. The shrill noise made by the male of this species he suggests may be caused by the curious attenuated and stiffened outer primary. He noticed a curious piece of ingenuity in nest-making on the part of this species. The nest in question was fastened upon a dead twig of a small cottonwood-tree; the loosening bark, which probably had separated after the nest was finished, had allowed the nest to turn around so as to hang beneath the branch, thus spilling the eggs upon the ground. The owners, however, built another nest upon the top of the branch, fastening its sides to that of the old one, and making the new nest lighter and less bulky, so that the weight of the older nest kept the other in a permanently upright position.

GENUS ATTHIS, REICHENBACH.

_Atthis_, REICH. Cab. Jour. f. Orn. extraheft für 1853, 1854.
Appendix B. (Type, _Ornysmya heloisa_, LESSON, DEL.)

GEN. CHAR. Size very diminutive; bill short, scarcely longer than the head. Outer primary attenuated nearly as in _Selasphorus_; the tail graduated, the feathers, however, not lanceolate-acute, but rounded at end, and tipped with white in the male.

[Line drawing: _Atthis heloisa._
♂ 25874 24618 ♀]

This genus seems closely related to _Selasphorus_, agreeing in character of throat, the curious attenuation of outer primary, and the general shape of the tail, with its rufous base and edging. The feathers, however, are not lanceolate and pointed, either sharply as in _S. rufus_, or obtusely as in _platycercus_, but are more equal to near the end, where they round off. The white tip of the tail in the male seems to be the principal reason why Mr. Gould removes the single species from _Selasphorus_, where it was previously placed by him, and where perhaps it might have not inappropriately remained.

Atthis heloisa, LESS. & DEL.

HELOISA’S HUMMING-BIRD.

_Ornysmya heloisa_, LESSON & DELATTRE, Rev. Zoöl. 1838, 15 (Xalapa).
_Mellisuga heloisa_, GRAY & MITCHELL, Gen. Birds, I, 113.
_Tryphæna heloisa_, BONAP. Consp. Troch. Rev. Mag. Zoöl. 1854,
257. _Selasphorus heloisæ_, GOULD, Mon. Trochil. III, pl. cxli.
_Atthis heloisæ_, REICH. Cab. Jour. extraheft, 1853, App.
12.—GOULD, Introd. Trochil. 1861, 89.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds
N. Am. I, xxi, XII, plate.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 361.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Above metallic green with golden reflections; beneath white; the sides of breast glossed with green; the flanks with rufous, which tinges the crissum very faintly; gorget brilliant violet or light purplish-red, bordered behind by clear white. All the tail-feathers rufous-cinnamon for basal half; the three outer black centrally and tipped with white (mixed with reddish on the third); the fourth green, centrally tipped with black; the central entirely green for the exposed portion, perhaps glossed with blackish at the end. Length, 2.70; wing, 1.35; tail, 1.00; exposed part of bill above, .45. _Female._ Outer primary not attenuated. Colors similar to male, wanting the metallic gorget; the feathers spotted with dusky; crissum and flanks more rufous; innermost tail-feathers entirely green; other feathers as in male, but with the central black encroaching on the basal rufous; third and fourth feathers tipped with reddish-white.

HAB. Southern New Mexico and Texas, to Guatemala.

The introduction of this species into the fauna of the United States is based on a female specimen collected by Mr. J. H. Clark at El Paso, Texas, and for a time supposed to be _Selasphorus rufus_, but after a careful examination by Mr. Lawrence, pronounced to belong to this species. Its range is southward along the highlands to Guatemala.

The species is very much like _Selasphorus_ in shape, and hardly differs more than _S. rufus_ and _platycercus_ do from each other. The male is easily distinguished from its allies; the females are closely related to those of _rufus_, differing in much shorter bill (.55 to .65), much less rufous on the more nearly even tail, with broader feathers, etc.

HABITS. This species claims a place within the fauna of North America, probably only as an accidental visitor, on the ground of a single specimen,—a female, taken by Mr. J. H. Clark at El Paso, Texas. It was at first mistaken for _Selasphorus rufus_. It is a Mexican and Central American species, ranging throughout the highlands at least as far to the south as Guatemala, where it was taken by Mr. Salvin.

It was first discovered on the highlands of Mexico by Mr. Delattre, who procured his specimens between Jalapa and Quatepu. It is crepuscular in its habits, collecting its food only in the morning or in the evening. Mr. Delattre states that the male bird is known to rise very early in the morning, and is never seen in quest of food later than nine in the forenoon. It very seldom goes to any distance from its mate or young, seeming to prefer to frequent the flowers in the edge of forests, but does not disdain those of the open fields. Mr. Salvin received specimens of this species taken in a place called Chimachoyo near Calderas, in the Volcan de Fuego, and other specimens taken in the _tierra caliente_, near Coban, showing that, like many other species, it is found in very different climates.

GENUS HELIOPÆDICA, GOULD.

_Heliopædica_, GOULD, Mon. Trochilidæ, II, Introd. Trochil. 1861,
60. (Type, _Trochilus melanotus_, SWAINSON.)

[Line drawing: _Heliopædica xantusi._
♂ 17767 16935 ♀]

GEN. CHAR. Bill longer than head, depressed, broad at its exposed base; the frontal feathers not advancing forward beyond the beginning of the nostrils, nor so far as those of the chin. Hind toe shorter than the lateral, tarsi feathered; outer primary not attenuated. Tail nearly even, slightly rounded and emarginate, the feathers broad, the webs nearly even. Metallic feathers of throat not elongated. Female quite similar in form.

This genus is quite peculiar among those of North America in the exposure of the base of bill, which is entirely bare between the lengthened nostrils, instead of covered by the frontal feathers. This makes the bill appear very broad, although it really is more so than in the other genera. The feathers on the chin extend considerably beyond those of the forehead, instead of to about the same line. The tail and its feathers are much broader than in the other genera.

The two known species of this genus may be distinguished by the following characters:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above metallic green; tail plain black or chestnut, glossed with green, and without white in either sex. A conspicuous white post-ocular stripe, and a blackish auricular one beneath it; beneath with more or less green. ♂. Forehead, chin, and side of head deep black or metallic dark blue; throat and jugulum brilliant green. ♀. Front dull brownish-green; chin, throat, and jugulum white or ochraceous, with or without a green gloss.

H. melanotis.[118] _Male._ Belly white, glossed with
green; tail black beneath; base of bill, all round,
brilliant blue; white cheek-stripe beginning back of the
eye. _Female._ Beneath white glossed with green; tail
bluish-black. _Hab._ Guatemala and table-lands of Mexico.

H. xantusi. _Male._ Belly cinnamon; tail beneath
purplish-cinnamon; chin black; white cheek-stripe
beginning at the bill. _Female._ Beneath plain pale
rufous; tail deep rufous. _Hab._ Cape St. Lucas.

[118] _Heliopædica melanotis_, (SWAINS.) GOULD, Monog.
Troch. II, pl. lxiv. _Trochilus melanotus_, SWAINS. Phil.
Mag. 1827, 441. _Trochilus leucotis_, VIEILL. _Ornismyia
arsenni_, LESS. _Hab._ Mexico and Guatemala.

Heliopædica xantusi, LAWRENCE.

XANTUS’S HUMMING-BIRD.

_Amazilia xantusi_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, April, 1860, 109.
_Heliopædica xantusi_, GOULD, Mon. Troch. II, pl. lxv.—IB.
Introd. Troch. 61.—ELLIOT, Ill. Birds N. Am. XI,
plate.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 365. _Heliopædica
castaneocauda_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1860, 145
(female).—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, xxii.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Above metallic green; the forehead, cheeks, and chin velvety black (the former with a deep blue gloss). A distinct white stripe from bill, through and behind the eye. Throat and forepart of breast brilliant metallic green; rest of under parts cinnamon-rufous; all the tail-feathers purplish-rufous,—the central glossed with green above, near the edges, the others obscurely edged with blackish along ends. Bill red at base, black at end. Length, 3.50; wing, 2.10; tail, 1.40; exposed portion of bill above, .65. _Female._ Forehead and all under parts light cinnamon beneath, without any green, or any dusky specks on throat; white cheek-stripe appreciable, but tinged with rufous. Tail as in male, but the central feathers entirely green above, the other, except the outer, with a dusky greenish or purplish spot on each web near the end. Whole upper mandible apparently dusky; base of lower, red.

HAB. Cape St. Lucas.

This well-marked and interesting species we owe to Mr. Xantus, together with many other birds of the west coast. It is sufficiently distinct to require no comparison other than that given under the general head; it can be separated from _H. melanotis_ in all stages of plumage by the rufous tail.

Specimens vary sometimes in the intensity of the rufous shade, and, as stated, it is probable that the forehead, instead of being black, in full plumage is deep blue, as in _melanotis_.

HABITS. This is a new and well-marked species, and although belonging to the North American fauna cannot be claimed for the United States, having thus far been only taken at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus, and described by Mr. Lawrence in 1860. Nothing is known as to its specific habits.

GENUS THAUMATIAS, BONAP.

GEN. CHAR. Very similar in general form to _Heliopædica_, but the tail emarginated, instead of rounded, the feathers narrower and less rounded at the ends. The coloration quite different. Sexes alike, in all the species. Color nearly uniform green, with the anal region white, the wings and tail dusky. Many species with the whole lower parts, except laterally, pure white. One species (_T. chionurus_) with the tail white, except the ends of the feathers and the intermediæ.

The species are all of rather small size and rather plain appearance, from the uniformity of their green, or green and white, coloring. They belong to northern South America, and to Central America north to Guatemala.

The genus is included in the North American fauna solely upon the accidental occurrence of one species (_T. linnæi_) in Eastern Massachusetts.

Thaumatias linnæi, BONAP.

LINNÆUS’S EMERALD.

_Thaumatias linnæi_, BONAP. Rev. et Mag. de Zoöl. 1854, 255.
_Thaumatias l._ GOULD, Monog. Trochilid. pl. _? Trochilus
tobaci_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 498. _? Trochilus tobagensis_,
LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 316. _? Trochilus tobago_, SHAW, Gen. Zoöl.
viii, 350. _Ornismya viridissima_, LESS. Hist. Nat. 257, pl.
lxxv. _? L’Oiseau-mouche à poitrine verte_ (_Trochilus
maculatus_), AUD. et VIEILL. Ois. Dor. tom. I, 87, pl. xliv.
_Argyrtria maculata_, MAYNARD, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 128
(Cambridge, Mass.!).

SP. CHAR. Continuous green, darker above, more brilliant, and of an emerald tint on the throat and jugulum; crissum, anal region, and middle of the abdomen, white. Primaries plain dusky. Tail blackish, with a faint reflection of dark blue subterminally, and of dull green basally, the lateral feathers obscurely tipped with dull dark ashy. Sexes alike. Wing, about 2.00; bill, .70.

HAB. Northern Brazil, Guiana, Tobago, and Bogota (GOULD)?? Accidental in the eastern United States (Cambridge, Mass., MAYNARD).

This race much resembles the _T. albiventris_, (REICHENB.) BONAP. (GOULD, Monog. Troch., Vol. V, p. ccci), of Brazil, but is said to be smaller and with less white on the abdomen and the under tail-coverts tinged with gray.