Vo j- g * VI ] Bangs, The Hummingbirds of Colombia. 1 39 



swollen torrents and fallen trees, I arrived at the Argoneous town 

 of San Miguel. Here Hummingbirds of many species were seen, 

 and on that day [June 17] I collected the only specimen of this 

 beautiful white-tailed species that I have seen in these mountains. 

 I first detected it hovering above an orchid. Its flight was rapid 

 and strong, and it uttered a twittering note as it darted from 

 flower to flower in search of its food, its gorgeous plumage shining 

 in the morning sun. As I only watched this little gem a few 

 minutes before shooting it, I detected nothing in its habits to 

 distinguish it from the numerous other Hummingbirds that were 

 about me." 



Another Hummingbird that may prove to be peculiar to the 

 region is the Metallura that occurs in the Santa Marta Mountains. 

 I recorded the pair collected by Mr. Brown, the male at Palo- 

 mina and the female at San Miguel, as M. smaragrfinicollis. To 

 this species, also, Messrs. Salvin and Godman referred the one 

 skin in Simons's collection, though with some misgiving. It 

 would be very strange indeed if the Santa Marta bird is really 

 M. smaragdinicoUis, but my two specimens are so like skins from 

 Bolivia and Peru that without much more material I cannot feel 

 justified in separating it. There are slight differences, however, 

 that may prove to be constant. The tail of the male is rather 

 more of an auricula purple than in M. smaragdinicoUis, and the 

 rectrices seem to be wider ; the luminous throat patch is also a 

 darker green. The female is a paler buff below, much less 

 spotted with green. These slight differences may or may not 

 prove constant. On the other hand, M. smaragdinicoUis is only 

 found in the mountains of Bolivia and of Peru south of the 

 equator ; while in the mountains of northern Peru, Ecuador, 

 Colombia, and Venezuela another species, M. tyrianthina, very 

 different from it, occurs. Therefore, if M. smaragdinicoUis really 

 occurs in the Santa Marta mountains, it is wholly cut off from the 

 main stock of its species by a wide area tenanted by a very dif- 

 ferent form. That such should be the case certainly seems 

 improbable. 



