86 



EVEN-TAILED AMETHYSTINE HUMMING- 

 BIRD. 



Trcchilus orthura LESSOY. 

 PLATE VIII. 



1/Amethyste a queue 6gale: Ornismya orthura, Lesson, 

 Trochilidees, p. 85, pis. xxviii. and xxix. 



THERE are three Humming-birds, which, though 

 not coming in the same group, we shall now introduce 

 together, from a confusion seeming to have arisen in 

 the discrimination of the species. They are gene- 

 rally known under the name of the " Amethysts," 

 and Lesson proposes to distinguish them by the titles 

 " L'Amethyste, Le petit Amethyste ou L'Ametliys- 

 toide, et L'Amethyste a queue egale." The last, 

 the subject of our plate, we shall first describe. 



The length of this species is about two inches 

 and a half : the head, neck, back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts, are golden-green ; two narrow lines 

 of white spring from each corner of the mouth : the 

 fore-part of the neck, and running upon the breast, is 

 covered with a patch of scaly feathers, of a rich 

 amethystine purple, changing to red with the posi- 

 tion : this patch is surrounded with a broad band of 

 greyish- white, which extends upwards upon the sides 



