TnocIIII.in.K TIIK HI'MMIXll ntliPS. 



4t7 



Pr. Cooper tliinks that lio met witli tliis species in Au^nist, 18r»:», on tlu^ 

 suniniit of tiie Casciule MouiiUiins, luit mistook lliu specimens tor llie young 



Vjix\\\ in June, liS.">'.), Mr. John Feilner tbund these birds breedin"' near 

 I'itt lliver, CuUiornia, and obtained their nests. 



Tliis species was obtained by Mr. Kidj^way only on the Kast IIund>ol(lt 

 Mountains, in Eastern Xevada. The two or three specimens sliot were 

 females, obtained in Aui,Mist and Se])iember, and at the time mistaken tbr 

 the youn<4 of ^V^^sy;//o/•/^s yyA<///^'<'>r«.s', whicli was abundant at tliat hK-ality. 



Dr. W. J. lloltman writes, in rehition to this species, that on the 20tli of 

 July, 1871, bein^' in cam]) at liij; Tines, a jdace about twenty-seven miles 

 north of Camp Indei>endence, Calitbrnia, on a mountain stream, the banks 

 of which are covered with an underj^Towth of cnttonwood and small bushes, 

 lie frequently saw and heard Hunimin«x-I»irds ilyini,' around him. He at 

 length discovered a nest, which was perched on a liml) directly over the 

 swift current, where it was S(tmetimes subjected to the spray. The limb 

 was but half an inch in thickness, and the nest was attached to it by nu'ans 

 of thin fibres of ve^jjetable niaterisd and hairs. It contained two ei:'rs. The 

 parents were taken, and ])roved to be tliis species. There were many" birds 

 of the same kind at this point, constantly on the tops of the small pines 

 in search of insects. 



Genus TROCHILTTS, Lixn.eus. 



TrocliUuSy LiNX^us, Sy.stema Natura?, 1/48 (Acjas.siz). 



Gen. Char. Metallic fjorn-ot of throat neailv even all round. Tail forked ; the feathers 

 lanceolate, acute, becoming gradually narrower from the 



central to the exterior. Inner six 

 primaries abruptly and eon.<jidcrably 

 smaller than the outer four, with the 

 inner web notched at the end. 



The female has the outer tail- 



TmrkiiHs roiuhrh - fcathcrs knccolate, as in the 

 male, thout^h much broader. The outer feathers are 

 broad to the terminal third, where they become TroehUus eoiubris. ^ 



rapidly pointed, the tip only somewhat rounded ; the sides of this attenuated 

 portion (one or other, or both) broadly and concavely emarginated, which dis- 

 tinguishes them from the females of Si'Jn>ip1ionis and Cahjpte, in which the 

 tail is broadly linear to near the end, which is much rounded without any- 

 distinct concavity. 



A peculiarity is observable in the wing of the two species of TrocJnhffi 

 as restricted, especially in T. coluhris, which we have not noticed in other 

 North American genera. The outer four primaries are of the usual shape, 

 and diminish gradually in size ; the remaining six, however, are abruptly 



