HUMMING-BIRD. 



803 



have narrow borders of a paler colour ; the length of 

 the bill, measured along the curve, is more than an 

 inch and a half; that of the body to the insertion of 

 the tail is three inches, which last is also the entire 

 length of the tail. The bird is thus rather more than 

 seven inches and a half in length, but as three-fifths 

 of this are taken up by the bill and the tail, the body 

 is not large. The female, taken altogether, is much 

 richer in the plumage than the male, which is very 

 unusual in this family of birds ; the upper part is 

 bronze green, as well as in the other, but the tint is 

 clearer, and it is pleasingly variegated by narrow bor- 

 ders of brighter green on the points of the feathers ; 

 the white streak under the eye is also brighter, but 

 the spot above it is less conspicuous ; the under parts 

 are of a deeper and finer brown, darkest on the chin, 

 and becoming paler backwards ; the tail is rounded 

 at the extremity, and very finely coloured ; the mid- 

 dle feathers are longer than the rest, but not produ- 

 ced, so as to break the general outline : they are 

 bright green, with the exception of the tips, which 

 are white, and immediately within the white tips there 

 is a broad bar of the same green as the rest, but 

 deeper ; the lateral feathers of the tail are reddish 

 chestnut in the basal part, white at the tips, and have 

 a black bar inside the white, which, alone with the 

 green on the middle feathers, forms a zig-zag band 

 across the whole tail ; the length of the female is less 

 than five inches, of which the body occupies one-half, 

 and the bill and tail the other half, in equal parts. 

 These birds are found in most of the rich parts in 

 the tropical portion of South America. 



SCALY-BACKED HUMMING-BIRD (P. Eurynomus). 

 This is an elegant species, and alike remarkable for 

 the peculiarities of its markings, and the form of its 

 tail ; it has some resemblance to the last-mentioned 

 species, but it is rather shorter, more slender in the 

 body, and altogether much more elegant ; its total 

 length, including that of the produced feathers of the 

 tail, is about six inches and a half, and the bill and 

 tail occupy considerably more than half; the outline is 

 altogether exceedingly elegant ; the bill has a slight, 

 but very graceful curvature ; the tail is particularly 

 handsome in shape ; and the wings, which are very 

 long and powerful for the size of the bird, form graceful 

 curves ; the head and nape of the neck are covered 

 with scaly feathers of a brown colour, margined with 

 chestnut ; the other upper parts are of a fresh green ; 

 the plumes have the shape of scales, they are large, 

 rounded, and bordered with a dull reddish tinge ; the 

 principal streak on the ear coverts is black, above 

 which, from the eye backwards, there extends a stripe 

 of ochre yellow, separating this black from the brown 

 and chestnut feathers on the head and nape, and a 

 similar line extending from the gape below the eye 

 and the ear coverts ; the chin and throat are covered 

 with scaly feathers, brown in the centre, and margin- 

 ed with ochreous yellow ; the neck, breast, belly, and 

 flanks, are brownish grey, with a reddish tinge ; the 

 lower tail coverts are reddish chestnut ; the tail is 

 of a wedge shape ; the centre feathers are green, very 

 long and narrow, with the projecting tips white ; at 

 the base, the other feathers are of a deep black, with 

 white tips, which extend to nearly half their length. 

 It is a Brazilian species. 



GUY'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Guy). This species is 

 the nearest approach we have to the supercilious 

 humming-bird, and indeed it has often been mistaken 

 for it. Nor is this to be wondered at, for it is exactly 



of the same form, though of rather smaller dimensions. 

 It differs, however, in some other respects also. The 

 projecting feathers over-stretch the tail for a much 

 less distance. These feathers above are golden green 

 at the base, farther outward they are black, the tips 

 of the lateral feathers are fringed with white, and the 

 projecting narrow parts of the centre plumes are also 

 white. The bill is rather long, the under mandible 

 orange-red verging to brownish at the tip ; the feathers 

 on the upper parts of the body are of a brilliant me- 

 tallic green, and those on the crown have a reddish 

 border. The ground of the auriculars is black, mar- 

 gined above and underneath by a dull yellow line ; 

 the chin, in form, is like a small gorget, and is of a 

 bright chestnut ; the remaining under parts are deep 

 bluish grey, which, on the centre of the belly and on 

 the vent, in different lights, changes to a reddish 

 yellow ; the lower tail coverts are altogether white. 

 We have no account that can be relied on respecting 

 the native country of this bird. 



INTERMEDIATE HUMMING-BIRD (P. intermedius). 

 This species is a native of Brazil ; its length is about 

 three inches and a half, and the general colour of its 

 plumage is reddish brown, but on the rump, belly, 

 and vent, it approaches to a senna colour ; the auri- 

 culars are black, and under these and above the eye 

 there is a pale yellow stripe ; the centre feathers of 

 the tail do not exceed the others in length more than 

 half an inch ; they taper gradually from the base, the 

 projecting part is pure white, the other parts are 

 black, and the outer one is fringed with reddish 

 brown ; the under mandible of the bill, at its base, is 

 pink, farther out it is black, then pink again, and 

 terminates with a black tip. 



BOURCIER'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Bourcierii}. This 

 is a Brazilian species, and is supposed to inhabit the 

 mountainous districts. The prevailing tint over the 

 upper parts is reddish green, and it resembles the scaly- 

 backed species in so far as each feather on these parts 

 is bordered with reddish brown ; its tail is of ample 

 dimensions, and the centre feathers are proportionally 

 so ; the upper side is greenish black, deepening in 

 tint towards the tip, where a chestnut spot marks the 

 outer web ; the long feathers are tipped with white, 

 where they exceed the length of the tail, and under- 

 neath a brown tinge characterises the whole ; the 

 crown is reddish green, the throat white, and the 

 other under parts reddish grey, most bright on the 

 sides of the neck. In various lights traces of the 

 supercilious streak and that from the rictus are visible 

 in this species. 



BROWN BRAZILIAN HUMMING-BIRD (P. sqjialidus}. 

 This is also a Brazilian species. From its colouring 

 and general appearance, so closely resembling the 

 supercilious humming-bird, it has been supposed by 

 some to be a climatal variety of that species ; but it 

 does not appear that there is any rational ground for 

 such a conclusion, seeing that it is scarcely one half 

 the size of the supercilious, and that it differs mate- 

 rially from it in other respects. The feathers of the 

 upper parts of the brown Brazilian humming-bird are 

 of a dull brownish green ; those of the throat of a dull 

 grey, with dark centres ; and the covering of the 

 breast is of the same colour, while that of the belly 

 and vent is of a tawny yellow. The tail-feathers are 

 brown, tipped with white, and the centre ones of the 

 same organ, so far as they extend over it, are entirely 

 white. Over the eye is a strongly marked reddish 

 yellow stripe, the auriculars beneath are deep brown, 

 EEE2 



