HUMMINGBIRDS 243 



In the Chisos Mountains in western Texas Mr. Bailey found the 

 Lucifer hummer with several other species common in June about the 

 big agaves, which were then in full flower. 



GENUS AMIZILIS. 



General Characters. Nasal scale large and swollen, nasal slit entirely 

 exposed ; bill light-colored, dark-tipped, broad and flattened at base ; tail 

 forked or eraarginate ; sexes alike. 



KEY TO ADULTS. 



1. Upper tail coverts brown tzacatl, p. 243. 



1'. Upper tail coverts green chalconota, p. 243. 



438. Amizilis tzacatl (De la Llave). RIEFFER HUMMINGBIRD. 

 Adults. Whole body dark peacock green except belly, which is brown- 

 ish gray ; wings purplish ; square tail and its coverts chestnut, tail feathers 

 marked with bronze. Young : similar, but xump tinged with rufous and 

 forehead washed with rusty. Length: 4, wing 2.00-2.35, tail 1.45-1.70, 

 exposed culmen .70-.90. 



Distribution. From the valley of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas south 

 through Central America to Ecuador. 



Nest. Grass and plant fiber covered with green moss, often in orange, 

 lemon, or lime trees, 4 or 5 feet from the ground. Eggs : 2, white. 



The Rieffer hummingbird is a Central American species apparently 

 only straggling across the Mexican line in Texas. 



439. Amizilis cerviniventris chalconota (Oberh.). BUFF- 



BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD. 



Adults. Upper parts mainly light bronzy green, upper tail coverts green ; 

 tail forked, brown, feathers (except outer) tipped with bronzy or violet ; 

 throat green ; rest of under parts buffy brown. Length : 4.00-4.50, wing 

 2.15-2.30, tail 1.50-1.70, exposed culmen, .70-.80. 



Distribution. From the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, south in win- 

 ter to eastern Mexico. 



Nest. In bushes or small trees, made of shreds of vegetable fiber, lined 

 usually with thistle down ; covered with bits of blossoms, lichen, and shreds 

 of bark fastened by spider web. 



"The buff -bellied hummingbird proves to be an abundant summer 

 visitor, and I have nowhere found it so abundant as on the military 

 reservation at Fort Brown. Here it seems perfectly at home among 

 the dense tangled thickets, darting rapidly among the bushes and 

 creeping vines, and is with difficulty obtained. A rather noisy bird, 

 its shrill cries usually first attract one's attention to its presence." 

 (Dr. Merrill, quoted by Bendire.) 



GENUS BASILINNA. 



440.1. Basilinna leucotis (VieilL). WHITE-EARED HUMMING- 

 BIRD. 



Nostrils exposed ; tail emarginate, the feathers broad and rather stiff ; 

 tarsus densely feathered. 



