44G NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Till" DUtiT ilin'f rfutluTS prccii at base, tlien Idack, luui tipped witli white ; the fourth 

 ^'H'eii and Mack ; tlu' filth ^'iveii, with a «hisky sliiule at end ; all. exct-pt central, edgt-d 

 intcrnalh t bji.»t' with rufous. Tlu,' under mandible is palur at base than elsewhere, but 

 not y<'llowish-white as in the inal»*. 



IIaii. Mountains of Washinirton T«'rritory, Orej^on, and California, to Northern 

 Mexi<M>. East to E;ist Uuniboldt Mountains (Kiugway) ; Fort Tcjon (X.vNxud) ; Fort 

 Crook (Fkilnku). 



Tlie male Idnl is easily tlistinguished from other Xorth American species 

 hy its very small size, the suowy-wliite bases of the elonj^ated loose throat- 

 feathers, and by the shape of the tiiil, as also the absence, at Itsast in the 

 several males before us, of deciiled metallic green on the central tail-feathers. 

 The females resendde those of ^L. lnluUa- most closelv, but have longer bills 

 and wiuLTS, l)roader tail-feathei*s, and their rufous confined to the ed<»;es, 

 instead of crossing the entire basal portion. /Sc/a.ython'sjt/afi/ca'cus and rttfiis 

 are much larger, and have tails marked more as in A. hcloUw. 



H.vmTs. This interesting species was first met with as a Mexican Hum- 

 ming-Iiird, on the high table-lands of that r(^i)ul)lic, by Signer Floresi. His 

 si)ecimens were obtained in the neighborhood of the IJeal del Monte mines. 

 As it was a com])amtively rare bird, and only met with in the winter 

 months, it was rightly conjectured to be only a migrant in that locality. 



This species is new^ to the fauna of Xorth America, and was first brought 

 to the attention of naturalists by Mr. J. K. Lord, one of the British com- 

 mission(irs on the Northwest Boundary Survey. It is presumed to be a 

 mountain species, found in the highlands of British Columbia, Washington 

 Territory, Oregon, l'alift)rnia, and Xorth(?rn ^lexico. 



Early in May ^Ir. Lord was stationed on the Little Spokan Biver, super- 

 intending the building of a bridge. The snow was still remaining in patches, 

 and no flowers were in bloom except the brilliant pink Itihes, or ilowering 

 currant. Around the blossoms (d' this shrub he found congregated quite a 

 number of Ilumming-Birds. The bushes seemed to him to literally gleam 

 with their Hashing colors. They were all male birds, and of two species ; 

 and upon obtaining .several of both they proved to be, one the Si'la-yyhori'S 

 rvfus, the other the present species, one of the smallest of Ilumming-Birds, 

 and in life conspicuous for a frill of minute pinnated feathers, encircling the 

 throat, of a delicate magenta tint, which can be raised or depressed at will. 

 A few days after the females arrived, and the species then dispersed in 

 pairs. 



He afterwards ascertained that they prefer rocky hillsides at great alti- 

 tudes, where only pine-trees, rock jdants, and an alj)ine llora are found. Ha 

 fretpiently shot these birds above the line of perpetual snow\ Their favor- 

 ite resting-})lace was on the extreme point of a dead pine-tree, where, if un- 

 disturbed, they would sit for hours. The site chosen for the nest was 

 usually the branch of a young ])ine, where it was artfully concealed amidst 

 the fronds at the very end, and rocketl like a cradle by every passing breeze. 



