Mr. D. G. Elliot on the Trochilidse, 395 



but has never to my knoAvledge been met with east of the 

 Andes. No other species of the genus, beside H. barroti, 

 is found in Central America. In South America the coun- 

 tries of Guiana, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and 

 Northern Brazil possess H. auritus, which is the most widely 

 distributed species of the genus. H. auriculatus is app- 

 rently confined to Southern Brazil ; but how far it extends its 

 range to the northward is not yet definitely ascertained. 



The three species comprising the genus Heliothrix, accord- 

 ing to this paper, can easily be distinguished from each other, 

 and they constitute two natural groups, as follows : — 



A. Head metallic green. 



a. Throat white H. auritus. 



b. Throat metallic green H. auriculaUis. 



B. Head metallic purple, throat white H. barroti. 



Heliothrix auritus. 



Trochilus auritus, Gmel. Syst. Nat. (1788) vol. i. p. 493, 

 sp. 47. 



Heliothrix auritus, Gould, Mon. Troch. vol. iv. pi. 213 ; id. 

 Intr. Ti'och. (8vo ed.) p. 121. sp. 238. 



Heliothrix longirostris, Gould, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 124. 



Hab. Northern Brazil, Guiana, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecua- 

 dor, Peru. 



Graelin described this species as above cited ; and it was 

 the only one belonging to this genus known to the older 

 authors. It has not received many synonyms, the principal 

 one being that bestowed by Lesson upon the female, which 

 he called Ornisnuja nigrotis (Ind. Gen. et Syn. Ois. du Gen. 

 Trochilus, p. 20. sp. 48). As will be seen, the range of this 

 species is very extensive ; and it is found from Brazil over the 

 northern part of South America, southward to Peru on the 

 east coast. Specimens from Ecuador were described by Mr. 

 Gould, in the ' Proceedings ' of the Zoological Society of 

 London for 1862, as distinct, under the name of H. longi- 

 rostris, characterized as differing from H. auritus in its "^ larger 

 size, longer bill, and the crown devoid of the glittering hue 

 seen in H. auritus ; at the same time it is somewhat brighter 

 than the back.'* A specimen in my collection, obtained from 

 Mr. Gould, represents this form. I have carefully compared 



