380 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



brojjzy gieeu or bronzy above, tlic middle tail-featbers broadly edged 

 with rufous on inner web, the other tail feathers with basal half rufous, 

 then purplish black, the two or three outermost broadly tipped with 

 white; gorget rich metallic puri)lish ; chest and other median lower 

 l^arts white, the sides and flanks rufous, tinged or spotted with green- 

 ish or bronzy. Adult females similar to males, but throat dull white, 

 spotted with dull greenish or bronzy; under tail-coverts pale rufous; 

 four middle tail-feathers without rufous edgings. 



a'. Adult male : Outer primary narro\Y, abruptly attenuated at tip ; gorget brilliantly 



metallic reddish violet, with decided violet tints in certain lights. Cnlmen, 



0.48-0.50. Hab., Eastern Mexico. 



A. hcloisa (Less, and De liATTR.). Heloise's Humming Bird. (Pago 380.) 

 rt*. Jrf«Z<wflZe with ontorpriuiary broad, not attenuated at tip; gorget metallic reddish 



purple, withoutviolet tints; otherwise much like A. heloisa. Cuhuen, 0.38-0.40. 



Hnh., Highlands of Guatemala. A. ellioti RiDGW. Elliot's Humming Bird.'' 



A. hehisa has been included in works on North American birds pub- 

 lished since 1870, on the strength of a specimen erroneously identified 

 as this species, collected by Mr. J. U. Clark, of the United States and 

 Mexican Boundary Survey, at El Paso, Texas.t It is a species of east- 

 ern Mexico, where it inhabits the tropical coast district (and perhaps 

 the temperate slopes also), and may be expected to occur within our 

 limits along the lower Kio Grande. 



Heloisr's Humming Bird. Atlkis heloisa (Lkss. and Dk Lattu.). 

 (Plate XL VI.) 



Ornismya heloisa Less, and De Lattr., Rev. Zool., 1839, 15. 



Selasphonis f heloisw Gould, Mon. Troch., pt. viii, 1854, pi. 2; vol. in, 18(11, pi. 141. 



Atthis heloisfe Gould, Introd. Troch., oct. ed., IFGl, 89.— Coop., Orn. Gal., i, 1870, 

 361.— B. B. & R., Hist. N. Am. B., il, 1874, 465, pi. 47, fig. (1. 

 Helolsa's Flame-hearer (Gould). 

 L'Atthis d'Ht^loie (MuLSANT and Vehreaux). 

 Chupamirto de peto violado pnrpi'ireo (D'Oca). 



Range. — Eastern Mexico. 



Sp. Char. — Adult male, with gorget rich metallic magenta-purple, 

 with steel-blue reflections, the feathers much elongated posteriorly and 

 laterally ; tail feathers all extensively rufous basaliy, the three outer 

 ones tipped with white and with a subterminal black patch ; length 

 about 2.70-2.75 ; wing, 1.30-1.50; tail, 0.95-1.10; exposed cuhnen, 0.45- 

 0.50. Adult female, similar to the male above, except that the middle pair 

 of tail-feathers are without any rufous, while that on the other rectrices 

 is much more restricted ; chin and throat white (tinged with rusty lat- 

 erally), spotted with bronze; chest and middle line of breast and belly 

 dull white; sides and flanks cinnamon rufous; under tail-coverts cin- 

 namonbuft; length (skin), 3.25; wing, 1.40; tail, 0.80; exposed culmen, 

 0.48. 



"Atlkis ellioti Ridgw., Proc. U. S. Nat. Mns., i, .Inly 1, 1878, 9. 

 t See The Auk, Jan., 1891, p. 1 15. 



