284 MISS NEWBIGIN ON THE [Feb. 18, 



First, as to the distribution of metallic colours in the two 

 families. — In the Sun-birds, the metallic tints are usually, though 

 not invariably, confined to the male sex, and this in spite of the 

 fact that the nests are domed. In the male, brilliant patches of 

 colour frequently occur on the upper surface of the head and on 

 the throat. Eather less frequently the contour-feathers of both 

 the upper and lower surface show metallic tints (e.g., Neciurinia 

 famosa). On the other hand the rectrices very frequently show a 

 longitudinal band of colour, or, more rarely, the central two may 

 be wholly metallic (e. g., jEihojnjga selierice). The tail-coverts are 

 frequently metallic, the wing-coverts only rarely so, and the wing- 

 quills hardly ever show any metallic colouring. Thus, in general, 

 the metallic tints occur on the feathers in two ways. There may 

 be a broad transverse band of metallic colour occupying the whole 

 of the visible part of the feather ; this occurs especially on the 

 head and throat, more rarely on the general contour-feathers. 

 Again, the metallic tinting may occur as a longitudinal band of 

 varying width at the edges of the feather ; this is especially seen 

 in the rectrices, more rarely in the case of the greater wing- 

 coverts. In some cases these longitudinal bands may become so 

 much widened as to occupy the whole of the feather : this seems 

 only to occur in the central rectrices. 



As to the range of metallic colour in Sun-birds, it is readily seen 

 that the commonest metallic colours are green, blue, and violet ; a 

 reddish violet is more uncommon, and a pure bronze-red and a golden 

 yellow seem both to be absent. This last point is of interest in 

 view of the fact that red and yellow (lipochrome) pigments are 

 very widely spread in the family. 



In Humming-birds metallic tints occur in both sexes, but are 

 usually more brilliant in the male. They very frequently occur 

 on the general contour-feathers, the colour being then often a 

 bronze-green, which is not sharply confined to a transverse band, 

 but fades away gradually behind. The metallic colours which are 

 especially characteristic of Humming-birds, however, occur, as is 

 well known, in patches of extraordinary brilliancy either on the 

 head as a crest, or on the lower surface, especially of the throat. 

 The feathers forming these patches are peculiarly modified, and 

 may display any of the colours of the spectrum including ruby-red 

 and golden-yellow — the colours which are bo markedly absent 

 from the metallic feathers of Sun-birds. The rectrices of 

 Humming-birds not infrequently display metallic colour, which 

 may be distributed over the whole feather or may be limited to a 

 transverse band near the tip. Longitudinal bands of metallic 

 colour such as those of the Sun-birds do not seem to occur. 



Pigmental colours among Humming-birds are not remarkable 

 for brightness of tint, being usually shades of grey or dull brown. 

 The only marked exception is the colour called by systematists 

 " rich chestnut " or " cinnamon," which is often limited to the 

 males, as for example in Eustephmms femandensis d . In this 

 connection it may be noticed that not only are metallic tints 



