5;j. AMAZII.IA, 217 



Arianii riefferi, MuU. Jlisf.. Nat. Ois.-Moiiclu:^, i. p. .'510, iv. p. 184 ; id, 



Atin. Siii: Linn. Ly<»i, xxii. p. 200. 

 Anmzilia fiiscicnudiita, Itidyw, I'r. U.S. Nut. iMiik. i. p. 147, x. 



p. TjOl ; id. Mail. N. Am. li. p. .'{l?; ElUot, .Siju. Troclt. p. '210 ; 



Kutlin;/, J'r. fj'.S. Nat. Mm. v. p. .'WH, vi. p. 40(). 

 Aniazilis fuscicaudatua, Eudes-Dest. Ann. Mus. Caen, i. p. 405. 



A'JhU male. Upper surface shiiiinpj hronzy-f^roen, darker f)ii the 

 crown ; upper tail-covorts clicstnut ; under surt'.ico ^'lilteririf^ },'reeM, 

 passinj^ into aliininf^ green on the upper abdomen and flanks ; lower 

 abdomen fuscous, lores and under tail-coverts chestnut; tail chest- 

 nut, tii)ped and ed^^ed with bronze: bill (lesli-colour, the tip black. 

 Total length about 4 inches, wiuf; 2-;3, tail 1 •;{'>, bill ()-!)3. 



Adult, fi mdU. Similar to the male, but with the maxilla darker, 

 the base onlj" tlesh-colour. 



i'ouny. Very similar to the adult, the {^littering discal spots of 

 the throat and breast-feathers replaced by shining green. 



This species passed .-is A. riefftri, until Mr. lUdgw.iy and 

 Mr Elliot substituted Eraser's title T. fusciaiuddt^iii for it. The 

 latter name was included amongst the synonyms of A. ricfftri by 

 Gould, but its locality wrongly stated to be Honduras. Count 

 Berlepsch has recently (luostioned the projiriety of the change of 

 name, and suggested that Eraser's type should be re examined. 

 This I have attemptt d to do with the following result, the so-ealled 

 type having kindly been lent me by the authorities of (he i.iveri)Ool 

 Museum. Eraser, when describing his T. fnscicauddlux, gave its 

 locality as " Chachapoyus, Peru ;" but the so-called type sj)ecimen 

 bears the following inscription in Eraser's handwriting :■ — " Trocldlun 

 fusciaindntiis. Eraser, Orig. of desc. in I'roc. Zool. iSoc. Eel). l.S4(). 

 Eiom St. BY' do Bogota." It follows that either the original locality 

 was wrongly given, or that this bird is not the type. (Jomparing the 

 latter with the description, I find the following discrepancies: — 

 The tail being slij>htly forked, cannot well be called " subrotundata." 

 The feathers of the u!ider surface can hardly be said to be " albido 

 marginalis," though the tliroat-jdumes have the whitish fringe of 

 freshly moulted feathers. The crissum, as distinguished from the 

 anal feathers, is said to be " fuscuin," whereas the under tail-coverts 

 in the Bogota bird are chestnut, the same colour as the base of the 

 tail, the latter being called " submetallice castanea." 



I much doubt the Bogota bird being the type of the description, 

 notvvitiistanding Eraser's statement, and therefore I doubt the pro- 

 priety of superseding yl. riefferi by A. fimricfiHdntu.i. 



The series before me (about Hu specimens) shows on the whole 

 that this species is very constant througliout its rang(>, and exhibits 

 no localized races that I can trace. It follows that the names 

 dubusi (Honduras), .•ivnvis (Cartagena), Jiionidti (W. Ecuador), and 

 aijluiip (ex patria ignota) fall as synonyms of A. rieffiri.' 



The chestnut lores are a distinguishing feature in this bird. 



11<(I>. Hastern Mexico, from (he Uio (irande Valley, Central 

 America, Colouibia and Kcuador. 



