244 



HUMMINGBIRDS 



Adult male. Forehead and chin deep blue, throat and upper parts of 

 chest metallic emerald green ; a conspicuous white stripe behind eye ; tail 

 mainly blackish. Adult female and young : under parts gray, spotted with 

 green ; head marked with stripes as in male ; middle tail feathers entirely 

 green or bronzy, the others black, the outer pairs tipped with grayish. 

 Length: 3.25-3.40, wing 2.00-2.30, tail 1.30-1.50, exposed culmen .65-68. 



Distribution. From mountains of southeastern Arizona, south to Nica- 

 ragua. 



Food. Insects found in honeysuckles and other flowers. 



In the Chiricahua Mountains Dr. Fisher found a white-eared hum- 

 mingbird on a bush of the wild honeysuckle from which the other 

 hummingbirds of the neighborhood the broad-tailed, Rivoli, and 

 blue-throated were regularly feeding. 



GENUS IACHE. 



441. lache latirostris (Swains.). BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD. 



Bill wide at base ; tail deeply emarginate in male, less so in female. 

 Adult male: gorget, peacock blue; rest of body metallic green, some- 

 times bronzy on back ; tail blue black, tipped with gray. Adult female : 

 upper parts green, becoming gray on fore- 

 head ; under parts soiled grayish ; tail with 

 middle feathers and basal half of outer green, 

 corners blue black tipped with gray ; a whit- 

 ish streak behind eye, with dusky streak below 

 it. Young male : similar to adult female, 

 but tail as in male ; lower tail coverts white, 

 feathers of upper parts edged with buff ; new 

 feathers on throat bluish green, becoming 

 more bluish toward chin. Young female : 

 similar to adult, but feathers of upper parts 

 bordered with pale buff. Male : length 3.50- 

 3.75, wing 2.00-2.20. tail 1.35-1.50 (forked 

 for .25-35), bill .75-.S5. Female: length 

 3.88-4.10, wing 2.00-2.15, tail 1.25-1.30 

 (forked for .15), bill .7S-.85. 



Distribution. From mountains of south- 

 ern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico 

 south to the city of Mexico. 



Nest. Saddled to a drooping twig made of bark and plant fibers, out- 

 side decorated with strips of bark, fine stems, and lichen. 



In Arizona where Mr. Stephens found the broad -billed humming- 

 birds they were always near water, usually along streams in high 

 mountain canyons. They perched on dead twigs where they could 

 command a view, apparently preferring sycamores to other trees. 

 He describes their notes as flat, differing from those of other hum- 

 mingbirds. 



Fig. 322. 



