326 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The species was split into two subspecies by Dr. H. C. Oberholser 

 (1918), who named the northern race Gycmolaemus clemenc'iae hes- 

 sophilus and described it as "similar to Cyanolaemus clemenciae clem- 

 encicie^ but bill shorter; male with upper parts duller, particularly 

 on the rump, which is more washed with grayish ; lower surface de- 

 cidedly paler; and throat duller. Female duller above and paler 

 below than the female of Cyanolaemus clemenciae clemenciae?'' The 

 difference in the length of the bill between the two races is not very 

 impressive; in typical clemenciae^ the average for eight males is 

 23.8, and for two females 26.7 millimeters; whereas in hessophilus, 

 the average for ten males is 22.2, and for two females 24 millimeters ; 

 however, there seems to be no overlapping in the list of measurements 

 given. 



The Arizona blue-throated hummingbird will always be associated 

 in my mind with Ramsay Canyon, that interesting bird paradise on 

 the eastern slope of the Huachuca Mountains in southeastern Arizona. 

 The approach to it lies across some gently sloping, grassy plains, 

 which rise to an elevation of about 4,500 feet at the base of the 

 mountains; from here the trail in the canyon slopes upward to a 

 height of about 9,000 feet at the summit of the divide. Around the 

 mouth of the canyon an open parklike grove of large black-jack oaks 

 furnishes a congenial home for a number of noisy and conspicuous 

 Arizona jays. The lower and wider portion of the canyon, along 

 the bed of the stream, is heavily wooded with giant, picturesque syca- 

 mores and various oaks, maples, ashes, walnuts, alders, and locusts; 

 while on the drier slopes are dense thickets of scrubby oaks and vari- 

 ous thorny bushes, with scattered red-stemmed manzanitas and small 

 alligator-bark cedars; and on the hillsides the rounded head of a 

 handsome madrone towers occasionally above the forest. 



The canyon is well watered by a clear, cool mountain stream that 

 comes bounding down through a narrow, rocky gorge, furnishes the 

 water supply for a summer colony, and finally disappears below 

 ground in the washes out on the plains. We made our headquarters 

 at Berner's place, at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, a cool and de- 

 lightful place in the wider part of the canyon, where a number of 

 neat cottages and small gardens are maintained for the summer col- 

 ony. Here the stream ran almost under our cabin; and here we 

 often heard the loud buzzing of the blue-throated hummingbird or 

 observed its direct and rapid flight, as it whizzed by our doorway 

 along the stream. It seemed never to wander far from the narrow 

 confines of this mountain gorge and always seemed to feel perfectly 

 at home and unafraid among the cottages and gardens. 



Courtship. — Once we saw two males contending for the affections 

 of an observant female; they were chasing each other about in the 

 treetops and displaying their widespread, long tails, with the con- 



