THE HUMMING BIRDS. 351 



SP. CHAR. Adult male: Above, metallic bronze green ; tail, except 

 middle feathers, purplish black ; the fourth (sometimes third also) edged 

 with rufous rarely some of the tail-feathers with small whitish ter- 

 minal spots; gorget, metallic wine-purple or solferino; length (before 

 skinning) about 4.00-4.70; wing, 1.85-2.05 ; tail, 1.35-1.60 ; exposed cul- 

 inen, 0.60-0.70. Adult female similar above to the male, but three or 

 four outer tail-feathers extensively rufous at base, the three outer ones 

 with broad white tips ; chin and throat white, more or less streaked or 

 dotted with brownish ; sides and flanks pale rufous or cinnamon-buff; 

 length, about 3.60-4.70; wing, 2.00-2.10; tail, 1.35-1.50; exposed cul- 

 men 0.70-0.72. 



Adult male (No. 10847, Ft. Bridger, Wyoming, May 30, 1858; 0. 

 Drexler) : Above, metallic bronze-green, including whole top of head 

 and middle pair of tail-feathers ; reiniges dull brownish slate or dusky, 

 very faintly glossed with purplish ; tail-feather next to middle pair 

 dark metallic green on inner web, the outer web purplish black, glossed 

 with green toward end, and broadly edged with rufous ; next wholly 

 purplish black, except a very narrow rufous edging to both webs ; next 

 similar, but with rufous edging to outer web confined to basal portion; 

 outer feather with no rufous edging to either web; a minute white spot 

 immediately behind eye; gorget, metallic rose-purple; chest, median 

 line of breast and belly, anal region and under tail coverts white, the 

 the longer feathers of the latter with a central mark of dusky ; sides 

 and flanks metallic bronze-green, the latter tinged with rusty. Bill and 

 feet black. Length (skin), 3.60 ; wing, 2.00 ; tail, 1.35 ; exposed culmen, 

 0.68. 



Adult female (No. 94680, Santa Fe, Mountains, New Mexico, August 

 1; H. W. Henshaw): Above, bronze-green, becoming dull, dusky, gray- 

 ish brown on forehead and crown ; remiges dull brownish slate, very 

 faintly glossed with purplish ; tail-feathers next to middle pair with 

 about the basal half rufous, then a triangular patch of metallic green, this 

 succeeded by a patch of purplish black (its transverse anterior outline 

 .35 from the tip), the apex of the feather formed by a small roundish 

 spot of dull buff; next feather tipped with a large oval spot of white, 

 and the green between the subterminal black and basal rufous much 

 reduced (only about 0.10 of an inch wide) ; next similar, but with the 

 green still more reduced and the white terminal spot correspondingly 

 larger; outer feather with the white tip 0.35 long, and a mere trace of 

 green between the black and the rufous. Chin and throat white, each 

 feather with a small central spot of dull bronze; chest, white; median 

 line of breast and belly and under tail-coverts white, tinged with pale 

 rufous or ochraceous-buff ; sides and flanks deep ochraceous buff or 

 cinnamon-buff; bill and feet black. Length (skin), 3.60 ; wing. 2.10; 

 tail, 1.35 (outer feathers, 0.15 shorter); exposed culmen, 0.72. 



The principal variation in adult males consists in the coloration of 

 the exterior tail-feathers, one or more of which frequently show more 



