ART. 10 BIRDS OF PINCHOT EXPEDITION FISHER AND WETMORE 11 



was taken with a large load, when it alighted too far away for a 

 smaller one. 



These hummers seem to share an irritable disposition with other 

 members of the family. One of them entering another's domain or 

 approaching a preempted flower is attacked and rushed in no uncer- 

 tain manner. It is probable that there is some change, and that con- 

 ditions are less tense, when there is an abundance of flowers, and 

 food is secured with little effort. 



ANTHRACOTHORAX NIGRICOLLIS PINCHOTI Wettnore 



Pinchot's hummingbird 



Anthracothxyrax violicauda pmchoti Wetmoke, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 

 vol. 43, 1930, p. 7. (St. Andrews Island, Caribbean Sea.) 



Use of the specific name vioUccmda in the original description of 

 this race was in accordance with Mathews' statement in the Austral 

 Avian Record, vol. 3, 1915, p. 42, where the figure given by Dauben- 

 ton in the Planch. Enl., 671, Figure 2, is identified as violicauda of 

 Boddaert (1783), which on this basis replaced nigricollis of Vieillot 

 (1817). Doctor Hellmayr considers Mathews' treatment erroneous, 

 and, after examination of the plate, and some study of the question, 

 the junior author agrees with Hellmayr that Daubenton's figure refers 

 to the female of the hummer currently known as Anthracothorax 

 viridigula (formerly A. grartiineus) ^ so that the name nigricollis is 

 the proper one for the species of hummer here under discussion. The 

 bird from St. Andrews Island therefore will be known as Anthraco- 

 thorax nigricollis 'pinchoti. Daubenton's figure agrees with viridi- 

 gula in showing the throat stripe green, and seems more nearly to 

 represent that species. 



The type of this new race, a male, the only specimen secured, was 

 collected on St. Andrews Island April 27, 1929. These humming- 

 birds have long been known on St. Andrews, but their allocation to 

 the typical form of Anthracothorax nigricollis of the distant main- 

 land of South America has seemed anomalous, so it has not been 

 surprising to find that the single specimen obtained by the Pinchot 

 expedition differs on careful comparison with a long series of true 

 nigricollis from the eastern portions of northern South America. A 

 second specimen from St. Andrews, an adult male with a broken 

 bill, collected May 1, 1887, by Dr. W. L. Abbott, has been available 

 for examination through loan from the Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ences. From these two birds it appears that the male of the St. 

 Andrews bird is generally similar to true Anthracothorax n. nigri- 

 collis (Vieillot)'' but has the black of the throat and breast restricted, 

 and bordered by metallic green instead of blue on the sides of the 



' Trochvlus niyricoHis Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 7, 1817, p. 349. (Brazil.) 



