FAMILY TROCHILIDAE 315 



it is probable that the bird, which is a specimen of D. j. julie, was taken 

 there. We have modern specimens of panamensis collected by Car- 

 riker at Necocli, near Turbo, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of 

 Darien that establish this race as the form of that area. Typical D. j. 

 julie does not range west of the lower Cauca Valley. 



In the main the violet-breasted hummingbirds are forest inhabitants 

 that rest on high or low perches indifferently. They range regularly 

 in groves, and in savanna areas frequent the lines of trees that border 

 water courses. It is one of the species that feeds constantly at flowers, 

 and when the guayabos are in blossom comes out regularly in the 

 open. As the males move about they hold the long tail tightly folded 

 and narrowed. While they perch at times momentarily among the 

 flowering branches at which they feed it is more usual to find them 

 at rest in the open. 



A nest found by Major General G. Ralph Meyer in the gardens at 

 Summit, Canal Zone, January 19, 1941, was the usual little, open cup 

 of plant downs, saddled on a small branch about a meter and a half 

 above the ground. The 2 eggs weighed 8 and 9 grams respectively. 

 Unfortunately, they were incubated and were broken in preparation 

 so that they could not be preserved. Darlington (Bull. Mus. Comp. 

 Zool., vol. 71, 1931, p. 395) gives the egg measurements for Damo- 

 phila julie julie, (a bird of closely similar size to panamensis), col- 

 lected at Rio Frio, Magdalena, as 13 X 8 mm. 



This is one of the common species of its family within its range. 

 It is seen regularly on Barro Colorado Island around the laboratory 

 clearing when the shrubs that grow in the open are in bloom. 



As the specimens available to Berlepsch when he named panamensis 

 must have come in part from the vicinity of the railroad it seems 

 appropriate to designate the Atlantic slope on the Panama Railroad 

 as the type locality. 



LEPIDOPYGA COERULEOGULARIS COERULEOGULARIS 

 (Gould) : Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, Colibri Zafirino 



Trochilus coernleogularis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, pt. 18, 1850 (Febru- 

 ary 28, 1851), p. 163. (David, Chiriqui, Panama.) 



Lepidopyga caeruleogularis confinis Griscom, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 72, 

 January 1932, p. 333. (Perme, San Bias, Panama.) 



Small ; base of mandible reddish to orange ; male, f oreneck and 

 upper breast violet-blue, rest of under surface green. Female, under 

 surface pure white, with sides spotted heavily with bluish green. 



Description. — Length 85-95 mm. Tail forked, rather long. Male, 



