252 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



This is one of the four interesting new species of hummingbirds dis- 

 ' covered by Simons in the Sierra Nevada, and duly described by Salvin 

 and Godman, who remark as follows: "Of this beautiful species Mr. 

 Simons sends two specimens, marked male and female. Both are in 

 perfect plumage. The female, first obtained, was found flitting about 

 a small stream in a wood. The male was shot on the grassy slope of 

 a hill far from bushes and trees." The female was taken at an eleva- 

 tion of 8,200 feet, the male at " 2,000 " feet, but this latter is clearly a 

 slip for 12,000 feet. The species continued to be known from this pair 

 alone .until 1899, when Mr. Brown succeeded in securing four more 

 specimens. " An adult female and two adult males were taken at 

 Paramo de Chiruqua, at the edge of the snow, on March 25 and Febru- 

 ary 25, 1899, at an altitude of 15,000 feet. A young male taken at La 

 Concepcion, February 16, 1899, at 3> 00 ° ieet - is much like the adult 

 female, having a green back and spotted underparts ; its tail, however, 

 is like that of the adult male, except that the ends of the feathers are 

 decidedly tipped with white." The upper parts in the male have been 

 described as black; they are only so when seen in one position (held 

 away from the light, the bill pointing toward the eye). In a sidelight 

 they show changing reflections of dark bluish, greenish, and flame- 

 color, and on the upper tail-coverts rich coppery. Below the gorget 

 the ground-color is buffy cinnamon. 



So little is known about the migration habits of this species that it 

 is uncertain to which zone it really belongs. The available records in- 

 dicate that it is a bird of the Temperate and Paramo Zones, but it is 

 difficult to reconcile this alignment with the La Concepcion record un- 

 less a local migration takes place at certain seasons. 



198. Florisuga mellivora (Linnaeus). 



Mellisuga mellivora Salvin and Godman, Ibis, 1880, 172 (Minca). 



Florisuga mellivora Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mas.. XVI. 1892, 329 (Minca). — 

 Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XII, 1898, 135 ("Santa Marta"). — 

 Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 138 (Bonda and Cacagualito). 

 — Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, V, 191 1, 576 (Santa Marta lo- 

 calities and references; nieas.). 



Additional records: Tucurinca (Carriker). 



Twenty-four specimens: Don Diego, Don Amo, Minca, Cincinnati^ 

 La Tigrera, and Dibulla. 



This species seems to be remarkably constant throughout its exten- 



