( 148) 



NOTES ON HUMMING-BIRDS. 



By ERNST HARTERT. 

 ERIOCNEMIS. 



THROUGH the kindness of Herr Dr. A. B. Me3er, I have been able to study 

 the type of his Eriocnemis aurea, described in the Auk, 1890, p. 315. It is, 

 in my opinion, not possible at present to decide finally about this bird, but it is 

 probably a, female of E. cupreiventris. Some of the supjwsed specific ditferences 

 are those of the Jemale from the 7nale of the latter species. The white cross-bands 

 on the breast-feathers and the smaller size are the characters of the female. 

 Mr. Salvm, in the Catalogue of Birds, says that the sexes oi Eriocnemis cupreiventris 

 are alike, but dissected skins from Merida, Venezuela, show that the /'i> mate differs 

 from the male in having white cross-bars to the feathers of the throat and breast) 

 and in being a little smaller. Also the under tail-coverts are less bright. I have 

 not, as a rule, much faith in the golden bronze tinge as a specific character, but 

 the certainly differently coloured upper tail-coverts, combined with the other 

 characters given in Dr. Meyer's description, must at present make it doubtful 

 whether the specimen in question is a variety of an ndnlt feinale of E. cupreiventris, 

 or a distinct species. It may be added that Mr. Salvin (I.e.) only gave Colombia 

 as the home of E. cupreicentris, only having Bogota trade-skins before him. 

 However it is equally common in the Andes near Merida in Venezuela, whence the 

 Tring Museum received eight specimens. Specimens from Merida are also in 

 Boucard's, Berlepsch's, and Simon's collections. Mr. Boucard, Hamm. B. 1892, p. 78, 

 and Gen. Humm. B. p. 257, described as a new species an Eriocnemis albigularis, 

 it being distinguished by a white throat. He adds that it " may possibly turn out 

 to be a case of semi-albinism." Any unbiassed ornithologist who throws only a 

 glance at the bird will agree with me, that it is undoubtedly an albinistic variety 

 of E. cupreiventris, and I may add that it is evidently Vi. female. 



PETASOPHORA. 



The measurement of the wing of the male of Petasophora delphinae (2'6 in.) 

 is given too small in Cat. B. XVI. p. 112. It is 71 — 76 mm. in the adult male, but 

 in the female it is 66 — 68. The female is similar to the male in colour, but it is 

 smaller. The wing is shorter in the females of all species of Petasophora ! I cannot, 

 from all I have seen, appreciate the alleged differences of P. cabanirtis, and cannot 

 separate the Central American specimens even snbspecifically. 



THALURANIA. 



It is Mr. Boucard's habit to propose names for sjjecimens " if they should 

 prove difiFerent species." This " pro])osing " names for doubtful forms is, in our 

 opinion, a very bad practice, although it has been followed by many distinguished 

 ornithologists. It is the more objectionable as it is generally done in the midst of the 

 letterpress or in footnotes, instead of in a different paragraph or under a conspicuous 

 heading, thus being more easily overlooked. So Mr. Boucard has {Gen. II. B. 



