264 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



inconspicuous. Of the members of the genus Phaethornis, n group of Humming Birds 

 popularly known by tbe name of Hermits, from their frequenting the darkest and 

 most retired parts of the forest, three-fourths are natives of Brazil. The great forest- 

 covered delta of the Amazon, where palms are numerous, seems to be particularly 

 unfavorable to the Trochilidaj, since from Para to Ega there are scarcely ten species 

 of the family to be met with. 



Taking the different countries of America, without strict reference to 

 either political or geographical boundaries, they stand in relation to the 

 number of species of Humming Birds which they possess about as 

 follows : First, Ecuador, with considerably more than 100, closely fol- 

 lowed by Colombia, with about 100 species ; next, Peru and Bolivia 

 together, with about 96; third, Central America (from Veragua to 

 Guatemala, inclusive), with about 70; fourth, Brazil, with a little over 

 GO, though many of these belong to the region of the Amazon basin, 

 and therefore are not properly Brazilian; fifth, Venezuela (including 

 the islands of Trinidad and Tobago), with between 50 and 60 species; 

 sixth, Mexico, with about 50 ; seventh, Guiana, with about 30 ; eighth 

 the West Indies, with less than 20; ninth, the United States, with 17, 

 of which all but 8 barely come across the boundary from Mexico, and 

 therefore should hardly be counted; tenth, the southern extremity of 

 South America (including Chili and the greater part of the Argentine 

 Republic), where only about 7 occur, and 2 of these merely as intruders 

 from the warmer regions to the northward. In ^orth America no 

 Humming Bird is known to occur beyond the parallel of 61 degrees, the 

 Rufous Humming Bird (Selasphorus rufus) reaching that latitude on 

 the Pacific coast, while on the eastern side the Ruby-throat (Trochilus 

 colubris) has been traced to 57 degrees north latitude. 



The geographical distribution of Humming Birds is a matter of great 

 interest, some of them being of widely extended range, while others are 

 confined to single mountain peaks or valleys. But owing to the care- 

 less manner in which many authors state the range of species, it is at 

 present impossible to express with more than approximate correctness 

 the comparative richness of different countries or faunal provinces in 

 their representation of these birds. Even some of our standard author- 

 ities are content to say "Brazil," "Central America," or "Mexico" 

 when giving the habitat of a species, apparently ignorant of the fact, 

 or at least quite ignoring it, that it makes all the difference in the 

 world what particular part of those extensive countries the species in 

 question may inhabit. Thus, the political boundaries of Brazil include 

 not only the Brazilian faunal province, but a considerable portion of 

 the Amazonian province, each with several more or less distinct sub- 

 divisions, while Central America includes two quite distinct subprov- 

 inces, composed of the republics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua on the 

 one hand, and the greater part of Guatemala, Salvador, and Honduras 

 on the other, though just where the two subprovinces merge together 

 we do not yet know. That political areas do not by any means corre- 

 spond with faunal areas is an important fact which should be constantly 



