244 



HUMMINGBIRDS 



Advlt male. — Forehead and chin deep blue, throat and upper parts of 

 chest metallic emerald green ; a conspicuous white stripe behind eye ; tail 

 mainly blackish. Adult female and young : under parts gray, spotted with 

 green ; head marked with stripes as in male ; middle tail f eathei's entirely 

 green or bronzy, the others black, the outer pairs tipped with grayish. 

 Length: 3.25-:3.40, wing 2.00-2.30, tail l.oO-l.oO, exposed culmen .65-.68. 



Distribution. — From mountains of southeastern Arizona, south to Nica- 

 ragua. 



Food. — Insects found in honeysuckles and other flowers. 



In the Chiricahua Mountains Dr. Fisher found a white-eared hum- 

 mingbird on a bush of the wild honeysuckle from which the other 

 hummingbirds of the neighborhood — the broad-tailed, Rivoli, and 

 blue-throated — were regularly feeding. 



GENUS lACHE. 



441. lache latirostris (Su-ains.). Bkoad-billed Hummingbird. 



Bill wide at base ; tail deeply emarginate in male, less so in female. 

 Adult male: gorget peacock blue; rest of body metallic green, some- 

 times bronzy on back ; tail blue black, tipped with gray. Adidt female : 

 upper parts green, becoming gray on fore- 

 head ; under parts soiled grayish ; tail with 

 middle feathers and basal half of outer green, 

 'corners blue black tipped with gray ; a whit- 

 ish streak behind eye. with dusky streak below 

 it. Young male : similar to adult female, 

 l)ut tail as in male ; lower tail coverts white, 

 feathers of upper parts edged with buff ; new 

 feathers on throat bluish green, becoming 

 more bluish toward chin. Young female: 

 similar to adult, but feathers of upper parts 

 bordered with pale buff. Male : length o.50- 

 :].75, wing 2.00-2.20. tail 1.35-1.50 (forked 

 for .25-.35), bill .75-85. Female: length 

 3.88-4.10, wing 2.00-2.15, tail 1.25-1.30 

 (forked for .15), bill .78-.85. 



Distribution. — From mountains of south- 

 ern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico 

 south to the city of Mexico. 

 Nest. — Saddled to a drooping twig made of bark and plant fibers, out- 

 side decorated with strips of bark, fine stems, and lichen. 



In Arizona wher.e Mr. Stephens found the broad-billed humming- 

 birds they were always near water, usually along streams in high 

 mountain canyons. They perched on dead twigs where they could 

 command a view% apparently preferring sycamores to other trees. 

 He describes their notes as flat, differing from those of other lium- 

 niingbirds. 



From Ridgway, Smithsoniau. 

 Fig. 322. 



