174 



SYNOPSIS OF THE HUMMING-BIRDS. 



may possibly be that of the female ; though I have not seen an authenticated spe- 

 cimen of that sex. 



The members of the next genus, Heliothrix, are rather large in size, of a most 

 graceful form, distinguished by their singular wedge-shaped bills, pleasing plumage 

 of o-roen and white, and the metallic-blue tufts on the sides of the neck. There is 

 very little difference in the plumage of the sexes, and when it does exist, consists 

 of the absence of metallic coloring upon the throat of the female. The rectrices 

 of this sex are always much longer than those of the males. 



Genus LXXXIX.— HELIOTHRIX. 



Heliothrix, Bote, Isis (1831), p. 547. 

 Heliothrys, Gray, List Gen. Birds, p. 14 (1840). 



Type. 

 T. avri'lii.s, Gmel. 

 T. atcr/tus, Gmel. 



Ch. Bill longer than the head, the culmen 

 descending, and the gonys ascending to the tip. 

 Maxilla broad at base, narrowing rapidly towards 

 the middle, the apical half greatly compressed 

 laterally. Tip slender and sharply pointed, nostrils 

 exposed. Wings long, narrow, and pointed. 

 Tail long (longest in the female), much rounded, 

 outermost rectrices two-thirds the length of median 

 ones, upper tail coverts reaching two-thirds the 

 length of the tail. Tarsi clothed to the toes. 

 Sexes similar in color. 



Range. Central America, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Guiana, and 

 Brazil. 



Three species arc known. 



Kcij to the sj)ecies. 



A. Head metallic-green. 



a. Throat white. 1. H. aurila. 



b. Throat metallic-green. 2. H. aurimlatvs. 



B. Head metallic-purple, throat white. 3. H. harroli. 



mUotUrit atirilus. 3. X.Brazil. 'Whilely. 



1. Heliothris auritus. 



Trochilus auritus, Gmel., Syst. Nat. (1788), vol. i. p. 493, sp. 47.— Lath., Ind. Ornith. (1790), fom. i, p. 311.- 



WiED., Beitr., vol. iv, p. 104. — Cab., Schomb. Reis. Guian., vol. iii, p. 707. 

 Trochilus leucocrotophus, Vieiu,., Nouv. Diet. (1817), vol. vii, p. 374. 

 Ornismya aui-itn, Less., Ois. Mouch., p. C3, t. 10-11 (1829). 



Ornismya nigrotis, Less., Ind. Gen. and Syn. Ois. Gen. Troch., p. 20, sp. 48, 9 (1831). 

 Heliothrix nigrotis, Gray, Gen. Birds, vol. i, p. 115, sp. 2. 



