( 'jl^ ) 



from F. meUivora iu the uorrual size aud sliajju of the u])jiei- tail-coverts and in 

 being similarly coloured iu both sexes. 



Oniiiimya iiii/ni, Bonaparte, Coiisp. 1. p. SI, caunot be ipioted as a syuonym of 

 Florisuga Jusca, as anybody can convince himself l)y lookiutr u]i the place and 

 comparing the references quoted by Bonaparte. 



The name Florisiiya sallci Boucard (type comi)ared by me) is given to a 

 specimen with a more jrolden npporside and greenish blue head. The " type " is 

 a somewhat immature bird. I have seen and have now before me several similar 

 specimens. They are mere individual varieties; the greenish blue is, I think, due 

 to immaturity. 



The Genls FOLYERAIA Heine. 



1 believe that E. 8imou, Catalogue des Trochilklcs p. 11, did right in placing 

 Polyerata close to Agyrtria, from which, he says, it differs only in the widely 

 different coloration of the sexes. This character, however, cannot be sufficient for 

 generic separation, unless it is accompanied by some structural jiecnliarities. Such 

 I cannot find, and therefore I unite Poli/i'.nit't, as well as Ar/iiJ ', with Aggrtria. 



Polyerata, or rather Agyrtria anvihills, is a common species, and e.xtends from 

 Gosta Eica to Northern Ecuador. Within this area we have now a number of 

 differentiated local forms, recently described as species, though two of them may be 

 only of subspecific value. In Chiriqui we find on the mountains a form of larger 

 dimensions and with somewhat duller middle rectrices. It has been described as 

 "P. decora " by Salvin in 1892. Then in 1895 Mr. H. W. Rosenberg discovered 

 on the Rio Dagua in West Colombia a fine new species, described in the same year 

 as "P. roAi'iibergi " by Boucard. It differs from ^l. amahilis in the absence of the 

 glittering green shield on the top of the head, and in the position of the blue breast- 

 band which covers the upper part of the breast, while in .4. amabilis it does not 

 cover the real breast, as Mr. Salvin wrongly describes it in Cat. B. Brit, yftis. XVI. 

 p. 238, but the lower throat and' crop-region. A. rosenhergi is further distinguished 

 by its pure white under tail-coverts, longer bill, shining green throat and chin, and 

 other less important characters. This excellent species has also been found by 

 Mons. Simon in Bogota collections. 



In 1897 Count Berlepsch described again a "7^. reini^' from an uncertain 

 place in West Ecuador. He says that it differs from '^ P. rosenbergi"' iu having 

 the throat golden green, a smaller blue band across the breast, longer beak, and 

 almost pure steel-blue lateral rectrices. I have seen the type, most kindly lent me 

 by the author; and Mr. Rosenberg, during his second trip to South America, has 

 collected two )nales and & female at Cachavi, which I identify with the form named 

 " P. reini." I am of opinion that the golden colour of the breast in the type- 

 specimen is due to some external process, as so often happens, and that the blue of 

 the breast being less extended is due to the imperfectness of the plumage on the type- 

 specimen; but the almost pure blue lateral rectrices and the generally 1 or 2 mm. 

 longer beak seem to be good characters to distinguish this form as a subspecies of 

 A. rosenbergi. A. amabilis should also be more studii'd with regard to its local 

 variations. Specimens from Esraeraldas and the Balzar Mountains seem to have 

 a less extended blue breast-band, others from Ecuador have darker and more 

 purplish u]iper tail-coverts and middle rectrices, than those found in the Bogota 

 collections. A greater material, however, is desirable before conclusions are 

 drawn. 



