256 Birds of Colorado 



August 21st, 1898. Carter took one at Breckenridge, and W. G. Smith 

 informed Bendire it was rare in Larimer, but more common in Arapahoe 

 county ; Cook and Henderson state that Gale obtained one at Boulder, 

 but the species is not mentioned in his notes ; Rockwell reports that 

 it is an occasional spring migrant at Grand Junction, according to Miss 

 Eggleston. 



Habits. — Henshaw writes that the males of this species 

 are very pugnacious, and wage unceasing warfare amongst 

 themselves as well as with other species, especially the 

 Broad-tailed. In other respects there does not seem 

 anything very remarkable about the species. The 

 nesting habits in Colorado have not been described, 

 but elsewhere it appears to locate its nest somewhat 

 higher than the Broad-tailed, though it is constructed 

 in a very similar manner. The eggs are two in number, 

 v/hite in colour, and measure '50 x '33. 



Genus STELLULA. 



Outer primaries simple, hardly attenuated ; tail of the male double- 

 rounded, feathers rather spoon-shaped and rounded at tip, not attenu- 

 ated or pointed ; male with a gorget of metallic spots set on white. 



One species only in the United States. 



Calliope Humming-bird. Stellula calliope. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 436— Colorado Record— Cooke 97, pp. 163, 208. 



Description. — Male — Above metallic green ; wings and tail dusky, 

 the feathers of the latter with a Uttle concealed rufous about the bases, 

 and with slightly paler tips ; gorget with the feathers white basally, 

 metallic purplish terminally, forming a series of metallic rays on a 

 white groiuid ; rest of lower-surface whitish with a little green on the 

 sides. Length 2-9; wing 1-55; tail -8; culmen -55. 



The female has no gorget, the throat is white with a few dusky 

 specks, and the under-parts are washed with rufous ; the two middle 

 pairs of tail-feathers are green tipped with dusky ; the others dusky, 

 tipped with white, with rufous at the extreme base — wing 1-75. 



Distribution. — Mountains of western North America, breeding from 

 British Columbia south to southern California and New Mexico ; 

 south in winter into Mexico. 



The Calliope is a rare species in Colorado, and has been only twice 

 recorded. Aiken found an adult male dead in Cheyenne Canon, near 



