310 



PASSEKES. BIRDS. TROCHILID-E. 



golden green ; the abdomen is also golden green ; a 

 circular spot on the chin, and the lower tail-coverts, 

 are metallic blue ; the wings are purplish-brown, and 

 the tail blue-black. The colouring of the female is very 

 similar but less brilliant, and the snow-white tufts of 

 feathers surrounding the legs are much smaller than in 

 the male. 



THE METALLIC PUFF-LEG (Eriocnemis Alince) is a 

 smaller, but almost more brilliant species of this genus, 

 the forehead and the whole lower surface of the body 

 in the male being of the most splendid golden-green 

 colour. The legs of the male are surrounded by very 

 large tufts of snow-white feathers. It is an inhabitant 

 of the vicinity of Bogota. 



LOED DERBY'S PUFF-LEG (Eriocnemis Derbianus). 

 This species, which has hitherto only been found upon 

 the extinct volcano of Purace" in New Grenada, is 

 remarkable amongst the Puff-legs for having the tufts 

 of delicate feathers with which its legs are adorned, of 

 a black colour. Its plumage is generally of a golden 

 bronze hue, but the upper and under tail-coverts are of 

 a brilliant golden green. 



There are numerous other species of Puff-legs, but of 

 these we can only notice that described under the name 

 of Eriocnemis Aurelice, in which the leg- tufts are white, 

 tinged with chestnut-brown. 



THE WHITE-BOOTED RACKET-TAIL (Spathura 

 Underwoodi). Mr. Gould gives the name of Racket- 

 tails to some elegant little species of Humming-birds 

 allied to the Puff-legs, and like them furnished with 

 tufts of delicate plumes surrounding the feet, but dis- 

 tinguished by having the outer tail feathers in the male 

 much elongated, very slender for part of their length, 

 and terminated by a broad palette. The present is a 

 beautiful little species, measuring about three inches in 

 length, exclusive of the long tail feathers, which are two 

 inches and a half long. The general colour is bronzed 

 green, becoming brilliant green on the throat of the 

 male, and the leg- tufts or " boots" are white. This 

 bird is found on the Columbian Andes, over a consider- 

 able space, but appears to be confined to the regions 

 between five and nine thousand feet above the sea. 

 When hovering before a flower, the motion of its wings 

 is exceedingly rapid, and produces a loud humming, 

 and the elongated tail feathers are very conspicuous. 

 Two other species, the PERUVIAN and the RED-BOOTED 

 RACKET-TAIL, have the leg-tufts reddish-buff. 



THE LITTLE HERMIT (Phaetornis eremita), a small 

 species about four inches in length, is of a reddish-buff 

 colour, with the head, neck, and back bronzed green, 

 the wings deep purplish-brown, and the tail feathers 

 bronzed brown, tinged with green, and tipped with 

 deep buff; across the breast there is a black crescent- 

 shaped mark. This species is found in Southern Brazil, 

 where it appears to be abundant. Its nest is composed 

 of various fine vegetable fibres held together by spider's 

 web ; it is in the form of a round deep cup, tapering 

 into a long point at the bottom. It is ingeniously 

 attached by means of cobweb to the extremity of 

 a leaf, forming a most elegant cradle for the two 

 young birds which are hatched from the delicate 

 pink-white eggs. 



THE CAYEN1TE HERMIT (Phaetornis stiperciliosus'), 



one of the commonest and best known of the Humming- 

 birds, is abundant in Guiana, and also occurs in the 

 northern provinces of Brazil. It measures rather more 

 than seven inches in length, including the very long 

 bill, which is about an inch and three quarters, and the 

 two elongated middle tail feathers, which project nearly 

 an inch beyond the rest of the tail. The latter char- 

 acter is common to nearly all the species of the genus 

 Phaetornis. This bird is of a bronzed brown colour 

 on the upper surface, with a buff superciliary streak ; 

 there is also a buff streak beneath the eye ; the lower 

 surface is of a dusky fawn colour, passing to buff on 

 the lower tail-coverts ; the quill feathers of the wings 

 are purplish-brown, and those of the tail bronzed green, 

 becoming blackish towards the tip, where the lateral 

 feathers are terminated by an arrow-shaped buff mark ; 

 the prolonged apical portion of the two middle feathers 

 is white. The upper mandible is black, and the lower 

 one reddish, with the tip black. There are numerous 

 other species of the genus Phaetornis, most of them 

 remarkable for elegance of form, although none exhibit 

 those brilliant metallic tints with which many other 

 Humming-birds are adorned. 



THE STELLA HUMMING-BIRD (Oreotrochilus Es- 

 tella) is a beautiful species which is met with in the 

 Bolivian Andes at a considerable elevation, specimens 

 having been obtained at more than eleven thousand 

 feet above the sea-level. The male is about five inches 

 in length, and has the whole plumage of the upper 

 parts greyish olive-brown, the lower surface white, with 

 a somewhat triangular brown band occupying the centre 

 of the abdomen, and a most brilliant golden-green patch 

 on the throat, bounded behind by a crescent-shaped 

 band of violet-black tinged with shining blue. The 

 female is smaller than the male, and has the throat 

 white, spotted with brown. From the great elevation 

 at which this bird lives, specimens are rare in collec- 

 tions. It inhabits dry places, and is solitary in its 

 habits, in other respects resembling the rest of its family 

 flitting about from flower to flower, and often resting 

 upon the twigs of shrubs and trees. Its food consists 

 of insects and the pollen of flowers. 



THE WHITE-SIDED HILL-STAR (Oreotrochihis leu- 

 copleurus} resembles the preceding species, but has a 

 large triangular black patch upon the abdomen. It is 

 an inhabitant of the mountains of Chili, where it is met 

 with abundantly at an elevation of ten thousand feet. 

 The nest of this species is described by Mr. Gould as 

 a dense and warm structure, composed of moss, fine 

 vegetable substances, and feathers, and larger in pro- 

 portion to the size of the bird than is usual in tin's 

 family ; it is attached by means of cobwebs to the side 

 of a rock. 



Several other species of the genus Oreotrochilus are 

 described by Mr. Gould, but of these we can only notice 

 two charming little birds, the CHIMBORAZIAN HILL- 

 STAR (0. Chimborazo), and the PICHINCHA HILL-STAR 

 (0. Pichincha) the former an inhabitant of the high 

 mountain Chimborazo, where it is found at an elevation 

 of from twelve thousand to sixteen thousand feet, and 

 the second at a somewhat lower altitude on Pichincha 

 and Cotopaxi. Both these species are green, with the 

 lower surface white, and the males have the head of a 



