208 Mr.W. Goodh\\(m—Orniihohf/ical 



9000 feet, but we were not fortunate enough to obtain 

 specimens ; for when it would have been possible to have shot 

 them we had no guns with us. 



Of some species of this group we killed many more ex- 

 amples than we intended, for the reason that often we could 

 not tell exactly at what species we were shooting. Most of 

 the members of the genus Eriocnemis, for example, are very 

 easily confounded on the wing, and in some localities several 

 of the species are found together. It was only by shooting 

 many specimens of E. luciani that we occasionally secured 

 one of the rarer E. mosquero, which is very diff<'rent in the 

 hand, but almost impossible to distinguish on the wing. And 

 this is the case with many of the genera. Each of them 

 has its characteristic habits and flight, but in most cases the 

 different species look much the same in life. It is only when 

 a specimen is held in the hand and turned to the light in the 

 right position that the beautiful colours are seen to advantage. 

 The brightest-coloured may look the jilainest of birds when 

 on the wing. 



Fam. CvpsELiDiE. 



433. Ch.^tura zonaris (Shaw). 



Two males and one female. We found these Swifts at alti- 

 tudes of from 10,000 to 15,500 feet, but more frequently at 

 the higher elevation. They fly in flocks in the early morning 

 and evening, skimming close over the grassy slopes of the 

 mountains. Their stomachs contained chiefly small moths. 

 Personally we found them confined to the Eastern Andes, 

 but it is probable that they change their locality at certain 

 seasons and visit the Western Andes. In July we saw 

 numbers of them flying about the ledges of the precipitous 

 "quebradas" east of Quito, where we were told that they 

 nested. The female is more brownish on the head, especially 

 about the forehead, which is whitish brown. The feathers on 

 the vent are also edged with white. 



Fam. CAPRIMULGIDiE. 



434. Stenopsis ruficervix (Scl.). 



A male from Papallacta, Eastern Andes (11^00)). 



