Irazu and Puff-leg Hummingbirds 559 



is De Lattre's Saber-wing (Campylopterus hemileucurus), a species which ex- 

 tends from northern Mexico to Panama. It is of a uniform rich, metallic, violet- 

 blue color; rump, green; and the tail, white and black in nearly equal propor- 

 tion. A South American congener of this species is the Splendid Saber-wing 

 (C. mllavicendi\ which has the crown glittering golden green changing to 

 coppery red; the throat and breast, glittering blue; and the other portions 

 chiefly dark green. 



Irazu Hummingbird. Undoubtedly the most brilliant of Central American 

 Hummingbirds is that curious local species which is confined to the higher slopes 

 of a few of the volcanic peaks in Costa Rica and Veragua, and is known as the 

 Irazii Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis}. In this the crown is rich metallic 

 blue; the upper parts bronzy green, changing to blue on the upper tail-coverts; 

 the breast is also blue, but the whole chest and throat are of the most glowing 

 hues, commencing with golden green exteriorly and passing through golden yel- 

 low into orange and finally culminating in scarlet in the center. 



The Puff-legs (Eriocnemis) are beautiful Hummingbirds of medium size, 

 which have the legs clothed with the daintiest muffs or puffs imaginable of cot- 

 tony or downy feathers, white, buff, brown, or black, according to the species. 

 Perhaps the finest of them is the Glowing Puff-leg (E. vestita), whose upper tail- 

 coverts are of a dazzling brilliancy unsurpassed and seldom, if ever, equaled by 

 any other object in nature. Mr. John Gould, the celebrated author of that most 

 magnificent of all bird books, the 'Monograph of the Trochilidre,' says: 'Every 

 one who, for the first time, finds himself in front of the compartment of my col- 

 lection in which this species is placed, gives utterance to some exclamation 

 expressive of the admiration excited by its striking beauty and glowworm-like 

 splendor of its upper tail-coverts. This brilliancy is more apparent at certain 

 hours of the day; for instance, it is more beautiful in the evening after sunset 

 than at midday, the brilliancy being relieved by the dark hue of the tail-feathers. 

 It is unquestionably one of the finest species of the genus and one of the most 

 resplendent of the Trockilida; would that it were possible for me to even faintly 

 depict it ! But no, the most finished drawing can be but a phantom of the 

 original, and it is only by an examination of the specimen that my readers can 

 form any adequate idea of the splendor and beauty of this gem; and how much 

 more gorgeous must the bird appear in its native wilds.' 



These are the mountain valleys of Colombia. 



Jardine's Hummingbird. Even more beautiful in the writer's opinion 

 is a gloriously colored Hummingbird found in eastern Ecuador, the Panoplites 

 jardinei; for while the gorgeous coloring of the Glowing Puff-leg is mainly 

 confined to a limited area, that of Jardine's Hummingbird embraces its entire 

 body. The crown and lower parts are richest metallic violet-blue; the sides 

 of the breast, the. back, and the rump, bluish emerald-green; and the wing- 

 coverts golden green. It is the excessive refulgence of the two hues of green, 

 however, which gives the plumage of this bird such a splendid brilliancy, for, in 

 certain lights, they glow with more than metallic clearness, while the deep, vel- 

 vety black of the nape and the snowy white of the tail-feathers heightens the 



