BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 629 



ARCHILOCHUS COLUBRIS (Linnaeus). 



RUBY-THROATED HUMMING BIRD. 



Adult male. — Above metallic bronze-f^reen, including middle pair 

 of rectrices; lemiges dark brownish slate or dusky, faintly glossed 

 with purplish; tail (except middle pair of rectrices) dark bronzy 

 purplish or })ur})lish bronzy black; chin, malar region, suborbital 

 region, and auricular region velvety black; a small postocular spot 

 of white; whole throat brilliant metallic red (nearest geranium red 

 in position a) changing to golden or even greenish in position h; 

 chest dull brownish white or very pale bufl'y brownish gray, passing 

 gradually into deeper brownish gray on breast and abdomen, the 

 sides and flanks darker and overlaid by metallic bronze-green; 

 femoral tufts and tuft on each side of rump white; under tail-coverts 

 brownish gray (sometimes glossed with g'eenish bronze) centrally, 

 broadly margined with dull white; bill dull black; iris dark brown; 

 feet dusky; length (skins), 76-89 (83); wing, 37-40 (38.5); tail, 

 25.5-28.5 (27); middle rectrices, 18-20.5 (19); exposed culmen, 15-17 

 (15.9).'^ 



Adult female. — A.bove metallic bronze-green, golden green, or 

 greenish bronze, including middle pair of rectrices; three outer rec- 

 trices, on each side, broadly tipped with white (the white tip on 

 tliird rectrix smaller and mostly confined to inner web), metallic 

 bronze-green for basal half (more or less) the intervening portion 

 black; remiges dark brownish slate or dusky, faintly glossed with 

 purplish; a small postocular spot of dull white; auricular region deep 

 dull grajdsh; lores dusky; malar region and under parts dull grayish 

 white or very pale brownish gray (usually more decidedly whitish on 

 cliin, throat, and malar region), the flanks and shorter under tail- 

 coverts usually more or less tinged with pale buffy brownish; femoral 

 tufts and tuft on each side of rump white; bill, etc., as in adidt 

 male; length (skins), 78-89 (85); wing, 43.5-45.5 (44.5); tail, 25-26.5 

 (25.6); middle rectrices, 22-24.5 (23); exposed culmen, 17-19.5 

 (18.2).« 



Young male. — Similar to the adult female, but feathers of upper 

 parts very narrowly and indistinctly margined terminally with pale 

 grayish buffy, throat with small mesial streaks of dusky, and under 

 parts usually more strongly tinged with buffy brownish, especially 

 on sides and flanks. 



Young female. — Similar to the young male, but throat without 

 dusky streaks. 



Eastern North America; north, regularly to southern Labrador 

 (casually to Davis Inlet), Quebec, Ontario, and Keewatin (to about 

 latitude 52°), and in the interior to northern Alberta (near Lake 



o Ten specimens. 



