230 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



most hummers, and though it fed at the same plants (the red- 

 flowered Psittacanthus cuneifolius) ^ it flew directly to the flower 

 clusters and clung to them with its strong feet while it probed the 

 blossoms, instead of hovering in the air before them. The flight 

 was comparatively slow and the wing motion far from rapid. At 

 El Salto (altitude 1,800 meters) these birds sought the warm shelter 

 of hill slopes, where they rested in low bushes among fragments of 

 rock, and at intervals darted down into the valley below to feed. 

 During the flight the white of the tail is prominent. 



SEPHANOmES GALERITUS (Molina) 



Trochilus galeritus Molina, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, 1782, p. 247. (Chile.) 



Since G. R. Gray in 1840 ^ listed Sephanoides (which he attributes 

 to Lesson) as a genus, >vith TrocMJus Jdngii of Vigors as type, this 

 name must replace Eustephanus^ erected by Eeichenbach in 1850. 

 The specific name of this hummer may also be open to question since 

 Molina in his Latin diagnosis says " Trochilus cu7'virostris " and his 

 entire description, as usual, is somewhat vague. 



This species was common near Concon, Chile, from April 25 to 

 28, where a male was taken April 25 and females on April 25 and 27. 

 The male, in fresh fall plumage, is dark green above, with little of 

 the coppery reflection found in most skins, so that it suggests the 

 condition in the bird described by Boucard ^ as Eustephanus hurtoni 

 on the basis of one specimen from Chile. It is possible that hurtoni 

 represents the fresh plumage of gale?iius, since its measurements 

 agree with those of the common bird. 



Near Concon, JS. galeritus was common among open, brushy growths 

 that covered ranges of low, sandy hills. The birds fed at the blos- 

 soms of flowering shrubs, searched old yucca heads for insects, or 

 snapped at gnats dancing in the air. Their flight was rather slow, 

 accompanied by a subdued, barely audible humming; at intervals 

 they closed the wings for a second, allowing the body to sink for a 

 foot or so, and then with renewed motion continued on their course. 

 The legs, for a bird of this group, were long and the feet and claws 

 strong. They often clung to flowers with their claws, while probing 

 them for food, in the manner noted in O reotrochilus leucopleurus. 

 The male had a twittering song with a metallic rattle that suggested 

 some finch. The usual call was a high-pitched tsee-ce that changed 

 to a steady rattle, as, with a flash of reflected light from the brilliant 

 crown, the bird darted away in pursuit of some intruder. 



An adult male had the bill black ; iris Vandyke brown ; tarsus and 

 toes fuscous black. 



An adult male (preserved as a mummy), and a male and two fe- 

 males in alcohol, of the rare Juan Fernandez hummer generously 



=• List Gen. Birds, 1840, p. 14. 



3 Hummingbird, vol. 1, Mar. 1, 1891, p. 18. 



