TROrniLID.K-Tllh in;MMIN(i lUltDS. 



4n 



l")r. Conpcr tliinks thai lio iiict witli tlii.s s|)(>cit'.s in Ati;,'u.st, ISn:'., (ui tlic 

 suiuinit i)( lliL' CaisciiiUi .Motuiliiiii.s, luit mistook tiio siicciiiicus lor llio young 

 of &lti)ip/ioni.i I'tiJ'idi. 



Kaily in Juno, IS,")',), Mr. Jolm Foilncr found tlioso birds brocdinj,' noar 

 I'itt liiver, I'lilifornia, and olituinitd llioir ncst.s. 



This .species was olitainoil by Mr. l!iil,n\vny only on the Kast Humboldt 

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

 fei.iale.s, obtained in Auj^nist and St'ptomber, and at the time mistaken for 

 the youn;;' ol' Sriiisp/ionts p/iiti/airHs, which was abundant at tiiat locality. 



Dr. W. J. Holfman writes, in relation to this .species, that on tlie 2lltli of 

 July, 1871, being in camj) at Hig I'incs, a place about twenty-seven miles 

 north of Camp Independence, California, on a mountain stream, the banks 

 of which are covered with an undergrowth of cottonwood and small l)ushes, 

 he frequently saw nml heard Humming-Hirds Hying around him. He at 

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

 swift current, where it was sometimes subjected to the sjiray. The lind) 

 was but half an inch in thickness, and the ne.st was attached to it by nu-ans 

 of thin fibres of vegetable nuvterial and hairs. It contained two eggs. The 

 parents were taken, and ]iroved to be tins sjiecies. There were many birds 

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

 in search of insects. 



Genus TROCHILUS, Linx/Eus. 



Trochilus, LiXN«us, Systema Natuife, r/48 (Acas.siz). 



Gen. Char. Metallic govgot of throat m-ai-ly even ;ill round. Tail forked ; the feathers 



lanceolate, acute, becoming gradually niu'iower Ironi the 



central to the extciior. Inner .si.x 



primaries .ibruptly and con.sideriilily 



smaller than the outer tour, with the 



^^"^ ° inner web notched at the end. 



The female has the otiter tail- 



Trorhii,,s roiubri, . featlicrs knceolatc, as in the 

 male, though much broader. The outer feathers are 

 broad to the terminal third, where they become tyoMIuh eotuMs. ^ 



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

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

 tinguishes them from the females of Sclasjihorit^ and Cctbjptc, 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 Trochilus 

 as restricted, especially in 7\ rolxhri.s, 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 si.x, however, are abruptly 



