304< Zoological Society : — 



EUCEPHALA HYPOCYANEA, Gould. 



Crown of the head, back of the neck, back and flanks somewhat 

 dull-green ; throat and chest brilliant blue, passing into glittering 

 green on the centre of the abdomen ; wings purplish-brown ; upper 

 tail-coverts reddish-bronze ; under tail-coverts brownish-black, with 

 bronzy tips ; tail steel-black ; thighs brown ; upper mandible black ; 

 basal two-thirds of the under mandible flesh-colour, the apical third 

 black. 



Total length 3i inches ; bill f ; wing 2 ; tail If. 



Hab. Said to be Bahia in Brazil. 



Remark. — This is a rather small, but distinctly marked species, 

 unallied to any other bird. Lesson's Plate 49 of his 'Histoire Na- 

 turelle des Oiseaux-mouches/ appears to have been taken from a 

 bird of this kind ; but the term bicolor cannot for a moment be 

 entertained. 



Erythronota? elegans, Gould. 



Crown and all the under surface of the body glittering light-green ; 

 back of the neck and back golden- or orange-green ; upper tail-coverts 

 purplish-red or puce-colour; tail long, forked, and of a purplish 

 violet-hue with green reflexions on the tips of the two centre feathers ; 

 wings purplish brown ; tarsi white ; under tail-coverts grey with 

 bronzy -purple centres ; upper mandible flesh-colour at the base, and 

 black for the remainder of its length ; under mandible flesh-colour, 

 except at the tip, which is black. 



Total length 3|- inches ; bill 1^ ; wing 2£ ; tail ■§■. 



Hub. Unknown. 



Remark. — It is easier to assign a specific name to a bird than to 

 determine to which generic form it is referable ; and if there be 

 any bird which is a puzzle to the ornithologist, this is one. It is a 

 very elegant species, and quite distinct from every other known 

 Humming-Bird : in its glittering light-green crown, throat, and chest 

 it looks like a Chlorostilbon ; but the form of its tail and some other 

 characters ally it to the Erythronotce, with which I have provisionally 

 placed it. 



Thaumatias viridiceps, Gould. 



Crown of the head, nape, and sides of the neck glittering light 

 green ; back and shoulders bronzy-green ; throat and abdomen pure 

 white ; flanks white, faintly spotted with yellowish-green ; under 

 tail-coverts white ; the rather short and narrow tail-feathers purplish- 

 grey, with an obscure band of purplish-brown near the tip of the 

 three outer ones on each side ; upper mandible black ; under man- 

 dible yellowish, except at the extreme tip, which is black. 



Total length 4 inches ; bill -^ ; wing 2 J ; tail If. 



Hab. Ecuador. 



Remark. — Of this somewhat remarkable species I have two speci- 

 mens, which appear to be male and female. It is a robust bird, being 

 almost as stout in its bill, head, and body as the members of the 

 genus Cyanomyia, while its tail is short and the feathers narrow, as 

 in Thaumatias leucogaster and T. chionopectus. 



