IIUMMIM G-Bin DS. 



455 



The genera Eulampis and Lampornis are closely allied, with green and black 

 the |)rincii)al hues of their jilumage, sometimes varied with blue, the metallic colors 

 chiefly confined to the throat and breast. The species of Eulampis in addition to 

 other characters possess luminous upper tail-coverts causing them to be very con- 

 s])icuous objects. The birds ol" these genera inhabit ^Mexico, Central America, West 

 India islands, and portions of eastern South America. 



Oreotrochi/tis is a genus of hummers that dwell in lofty altitudes just beneath 

 the line of perpeptual snow. Some of tlie species are entirely <'onfined to particular 



Fio. 220. — Oreolrochilus chimborazo, Chiinborazo humming-bird. 



mountains, like O. chimborazo and O. pic/iiiic/ia, which are found npon the vol- 

 canic peaks whose names they bear and that of Cotopa.xi. The last named feeds 

 frequently from the ground, hunting the moss-covered clumps for insects, as the snow 

 melts away. When the plants of those Alpine heights are in bloom, they frequent 

 the flowers. Another species, O. /eiicop/t'iini.i, is said to live in the most elevated 

 Andean valleys, amid storms of rain, hail, and thunder, in places where a species of 

 this family would be least exj)ected. It sultsists mostly upon insects, small flics chiefly 

 contributing to its support. They are handsome birds with the under jiarts white, 

 deep chestnut, or black, with metallic-colored throats, some with richly colored beads. 



