THE HUMMING BIRDS. 



301 



form. These are Eulampis, in the species of which the upper tail- 

 eoverls are large, broad, and rounded, covering more than half of the 



FIG. 28. Tail of Eulampis jugularis, showing 

 enlarged upper coverts. 



FIG. 29. Tail of Chalybura bu/oni, 

 showing plume-like under coverts. 



tail and very billiautly colored, and Chalybura, in which the under tail- 

 ce verts have very downy and decomposed webs, thus somewhat resem- 

 bling miniature ostrich plumes. 



HEAD ORNAMENTS, ETC. 



Of all birds only the Birds of Paradise can rival the Humming Birds 

 in the extraordinary development of portions of their feathering. Un- 

 usual developments of the tail have already been described (see page 

 300), as have also occasional modifications of the tail-coverts; but there 

 remains to be specially mentioned the various kinds of head ornaments 

 with which the males of many species are adorned. The most frequent 

 head ornament of the Humming Birds is a " gorget " or patch of imbri- 

 cated feathers covering the throat of the male, the color of which is 

 usually brilliantly metallic and very different from that of other portions 

 of the bird's plumage. This gorget is well shown in the male of the 

 common Ruby-throated Humming Bird (Trochilus colubris), in which 

 the feathers on the sides of the throat are only slightly elongated. In 

 other genera (as for example Myrtis) these feathers are of uniform 

 length, while in others, notably Galothorax and Acestrura and some 

 species of Selaspliorus and Calypte, the lateral feathers of the gorget 

 are greatly elongated, forming a conspicuous ruff on each side of the 

 throat, as shown in figures 32-36. In the genus Stellula the feathers 

 of the ruff, instead of being rounded and scale like, are narrow and 

 lengthened almost lanceolate the individuality of each one being 

 strengthened by the peculiar coloration, the tips being metallic purple 

 and the basal portion snow-white. (See Fig. 35.) 



Of all the gorgeted Humming Birds by far the finest are the two 

 species of the genus Calypte which inhabit parts of Mexico and Cali- 

 fornia and the single one found in Cuba. In these birds not only is the 

 gorget, with its elongated lateral extensions, but the whole top of the 

 head also, of the most brilliant imaginable metallic red or violet (accord- 



