Mr. D. G. Elliot on the Trochilidte. 315 



more so than any other member of the genus, reaching from 

 Mexico, in the vicinity of Cordova (where it was procured by 

 M. Salle), through Guatemala, into Honduras. Mr. Gould, 

 in his Introduction to the monograph of the Humming-birds, 

 separates the bird from Duenas, in Guatemala, as distinct under 

 the name oiguatemalensis , although in his monograph he stated 

 that there was not the slightest difference between specimens 

 from Guatemala and Mexico. In the Introduction he charac- 

 terizes them as follows : " Guatemalan specimens have the tail 

 bronzy green, while the Mexican are olive-green." It is true 

 that in a series of specimens these differences are observable, 

 in a greater or less degree ; but it does not seem to me suffi- 

 cient to entitle the birds from the different localities to a 

 separate specific rank. The^ difference in the majority of 

 cases is so slight that it would be well nigh impossible to 

 decide to which species the specimens belonged. I have 

 therefore placed the name C. guatemalensis as a synonym of 

 C. cyanocephala^. 



I have had for some years in my collection a specimen of 

 Cyanomyia which differs from all other described species. 

 It was said to have come from Honduras ; but for the accu- 

 racy of this habitat I cannot vouch. It is nearest to C. 

 cyanocephala, but differs in several remarkable and important 

 characters. Although possessing every indication of being an 

 adult individual, it is much smaller than its ally, and has an 

 extraordinarily small bill. In some groups of the Trochilidae 

 I am well aware that the length of the bill is of no specific 

 value ; but I have never seen any material difference in this 

 organ among the adult specimens of the different species 

 of this genus until I obtained the present specimen. Besides 

 its general small size and remarkable bill, the tail and under 

 tail-coverts are very differently coloured, the former being 

 more like that of C. viridifrons, though the bird resembles that 

 species in no other manner. Not having been successful in 

 obtaining another specimen, I have decided to describe it, 

 and thus call the attention of ornithologists to the bird : — 



* [What is C.faiistina (Bourc), Muls. H. N. Ois.M. i. p. 223?— Ed.] 



y2 



