BLUE-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 



Trochilus lucifer SWAINSON. 



PLATE XIV. 



Cynanthus lucifer, Swainson, Synopsis of Mexican Birds. 

 L'Oiseau-mouche barbe blue, Oraismya cyanopogon, 

 Lesson^ Histoire Naturelle des Qiseaux-mouches, p. 50, 

 pi. v. 



THIS lovely species seems to have been first no- 

 ticed and described by Mr Swainson ; consequently 

 we have given his name at the head of this descrip- 

 tion, in preference to that of Lesson, which is en- 

 graved upon the Plate. The first specimens seem 

 to have formed part of the collection of the Duke Ri- 

 voli in Paris, and several individuals have since been 

 brought to this country. It is a native of Mexico. 

 It is a bird of a very slender form ; the upper parts 

 are bright yellowish green, the under nearly pure 

 white, tinged with greenish on the flanks, and the 

 throat and fore part of the neck are covered with 

 beautiful lengthened plumes of a bluish violet colour, 

 assuming a pink or ultramarine tint according to the 

 position. The tail is deeply forked, and the outer 

 feathers become narrow towards the tips. The fe- 

 male has not yet been described. 



