BREWSTER: BIRDS OF THE CAPE REGION, LOWER CALIFORNIA. 113 



Adult females. In some specimens the throat is perfectly plain : in others 

 tiiK'ed with rusty; in still others sprinkled with small purplish spots, while in 

 onrbird (Xo. 17,083, La Paz, February 24, 1887), there is a rather large cen- 

 tral i)atch of dull but iridescent purple. None of my females show any purplish 

 on the crown. 



Tliis Hummingbird occurs throughout Lower California. In the Cape 

 Regi(jn it is a resident species of somewhat local and peculiar distribution 

 during the breeding season, although at other times of the year it appaiently 

 wanders over considerable areas in search of food. Thus Mr. Frazar fuund 

 it al)undant near La Paz in February and March and among the Victoria 

 Mountains (opposite Carmen Island) during the latter month, but he failed 

 to detect even a single specimen uu the Sierra de la Laguna in May or 

 early June. Mr. Belding characterizes it as " abundant in winter " about La 

 Paz, but " not common at San Jose, Cape Saint Lucas, or Miraflores in April 

 and May." At San Jose del Rancho Mr. Frazar saw only one or two in early 

 July, but soon after the middle of that month a succession of heavy showers 

 caused the vegetation to spring suddenly into leaf, and Costa's Hummers ap- 

 peared in large numbers, coming, Mr. Frazar thought, from the region to the 

 northward. They were most abundant about July 25, after which their num- 

 bers declined steadily. ISTone were seen either here or at Triunfo in December. 



According to Mr. Belding, Costa's Hummingbird seldom ranges above 2,000 

 feet altitude, and " thrives in barren, waterless tracts." Mr. Anthony, however, 

 found it nesting in May, 1893, among the pines on San Pedro Martir at an alti- 

 tude of 7,500 feet.i In the more southern portions of Lower California it 

 breeds in January, February, and March, the earliest date on record being 

 January 17, 1881, when Mr. Bryant found a nest containing "large young," 

 on Santa Margarita Island. "-^ 



The general range of Costa's Hummingbird includes southern California, 

 Arizona and western Mexico. 



It is possible that Selasphorus alleni sometimes visits the Cape Region, for 

 Mr. Frazar obtained an adult female in the Victoria Mountains opposite Carmen 

 Island, on March 11, 1887. 



Basilinna xantusi (Lawk.). 

 Xaxtus's Hummingbird, 



Amazilia xantusii Lawrence, Ann Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., VII. 1860, 109, 110 



(orig. descr. of female ; type from Cape St. Lucas). 

 Heliopaedica castaneocauda Lawrence, Loc. cit., 145 (orig. descr. of male : crit ; 



Cape St. Lucas). 

 A.[mazilia] xantusi Sclater, Ibis, 1800, 309 (crit. ; Cape St. Lucas). 



1 Zoe, IV. 1893, 237. 



2 Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 2d ser., II. 1889, 289. 



VOL. XLI. — NO. 1 8 



