1870. ] ON VENEZUELAN BIRDS. 787 
53. OcHTHOECA NIGRITA, Sp. Nov. 
Cinerascenti-nigra, unicolor ; superciliis albis: rostro et pedibus 
nigris: long. tota 5'2, ale 2°6, caude@ 1°8. 
Hab. Merida (Goering). 
Obs. Habitus O. albidiematis et O. citrinifrontis, sed corpore 
unicolori ab omnibus diversus. 
Mr. Goering sends a single skin of this new species, obtained near 
Merida. Itis marked “male; iris brown.’ The specimen is evi- 
dently a bird of the year. 
76. LAFRESNAYA GAYI. 
Trochilus gayi, Bourc. et Muls. Ann. des Sc. Nat. de Lyon, 1846, 
. 325. 
F Lafresnaya saule, Gould, Lutr. Troch. p. 70. 
A single specimen of this Humming-bird, sent by Mr. Goering 
from Merida, has the tips of the otherwise white rectrices bronzy 
green, and not black as in the majority of Ecuadorean examples 
usually called Z. gayi. Judging from Mr, Gould’s remarks (Mon. 
Troch. t. 86, et Intr. p. 70), we much doubt if this slight distine- 
tion is sufficiently constant to render specific separation justifiable. 
But should such be the case, the species from Ecuador must bear 
the name of LZ. saule, and the present bird that of L. gayi. De- 
lattre and Bourcier’s type of Trochilus saule (R. Z. 1846, p. 310) 
was obtained by the former in the environs of Quito. Though no 
locality is assigned to L. gay?, the description is strictly applicable 
to the present bird. 
Out of the thirteen species of Humming-birds collected by Mr. 
Goering in the vicinity of Merida, it will be observed that no less 
than five (viz. Lafresnaya gayi, Oxypogon lindeni, Bourcieria con- 
radi, Heliangelus spencii, and Panychlora stenura) are never met 
with in the large collections of these birds that are constantly being 
forwarded from the vicinity of Bogota. These five species there- 
fore, together with others not yet obtained by Mr. Goering, must 
be considered peculiar denizens of this branch of the Andean chain ; 
the remainder (eight) of Mr. Goering’s species being either of wide 
range or well-known members of the ordinary avifauna of New Gra- 
nada, as illustrated by Bogota collections. 
92. CoNURUS RHODOCEPHALUS, Sp. Nov. 
Lete viridis: remigibus intus nigricantibus, extus caerulescenti- 
bus ; pileo roseo-rubro: ventre medio et cauda tota rubiginoso- 
rufis: tectricibus subalaribus viridibus: rostro albicante: pe- 
dibus obscure corneis : long. tota 9, ale 5:2, caude@ rectr. med. 
4-5, ext. 2°6. 
Hab. Vicinity of Merida (Goering). 
Of this new Conurus Mr. Goering obtained two male specimens 
near Merida. One of these, described above, appears to indicate a 
species most nearly allied to C. roseifrons (Finsch, Papag. i. p. 534), 
but differing therefrom in the want of the red rump and brown 
