SENNETr ON BIRDS OF THE EIO GRANDE OF TEXAS. 35 



They were quite irregular, some evenings coming in large numbers and 

 then again in few. Their habits are similar to C. virginiamis, the Com- 

 mon Nighthawk. By their being ten times as abundant as N'yctidromus 

 albicolUs, one would suppose we would find many of their eggs, but we 

 found none. The eggs are just the color of the ground, and the bushes 

 are too thick to mark exactly where the bird leaves when flushed. A set 

 of eggs given me by Dr. Merrill has the ground-color gray, on which are 

 fine spots and scratches of drab over the entire surface. With these 

 markings are clouded or indistinct ones of the same design. The shape 

 is elliptical. One egg measures 1.04 by 0.78, and the other 1.05 by CiS. 



230— 5 —8.75 X 20.75 x 6.90 x 4.00. Apr. 18, Hidalgo. 

 245— ^ —9.00 X 2^.00 x 7.50 x 4.00. Apr. 19, Hidalgo. 

 246— <?— 8.75x22.00x7,50x4.10. Apr. 19, Hidalgo. 

 247— 5 —8.50 X 21.00 x 7.25 x 4.00. Apr. 19, Hidalgo. 



295— ^ —8.50 X 20.50 x 7.00 x 3.90. Apr. 28, Hidalgo. 



296— 5 —8.65 X 21.00 x 7.10 x 4.10. Apr. 28, Hidalgo. 

 300— 2 —8.75 X 21.50 x 7.25 x 4.25. Apr. 29, Hidalgo. 

 368—^—8.50x20.25x6.65x4.00. May 5, Hidalgo. 



TKOCHILID^. 



Trochilus colubeis, L. — Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 



Of the two birds secured, one was shot while hovering about a blossom- 

 ing tree, the other over flowers near the ground ; both were females. 



231— 5 —3.25 X 4.50 x 1 .75 x 1.12. Apr. 19. Hidalgo. 

 397— $ —3.75 X 4.50 x 1.75 x 1.15. May 8, Hidalgo. 



Amazilia cerviniventris, Gould. — Rufous bellied Hummingbird. 



[As descriptions of this species are not very generally accessible, the following, taken 

 from Mr. Sennett's specimen, is inserted : — 



Sp. ch. — Male. Upper parts shining golden-green, nearly uniform from head to 

 tail, but top of the head rather darker, and with a reddish gloss in some lights, and 

 upper tail-coverts somewhat shaded with reddish. Metallic gorget of great extent, 

 reaching fairly on the breast, glittering green when viewed with the bill of the bird 

 pointing toward the observer, dusky green when seen in the opposite direction. Less 

 scintillating and more golden-green feathers extend a little farther on the breast and 

 sides, and most of the un der wing-coverts are similar. Belly and under tail-coverts 

 dull rufous or pale cinnamon, relieved by flocculent snowy- white patches on the flanks. 

 Wings blackish, with purple and violet lustre ; all the primaries broad, and not pecu- 

 liar in shape, though the outermost is narrower and more falcate than the rest. Tail 

 large, forked about one-third of an inch; all-the feathers broad, with simply rounded 

 tips (no special emargination) ; color intense chestnut, having even a purplish 

 tinge when viewed below, the middle feathers glossed with golden-green, especially 

 noticeable at their ends, and all the rest tipped and edged for some distance from their 

 ends with dusky. Tars i appearing feathered nearly to the toes, but really naked except 

 at the top in front. No lengthened ruffs or tufts about the head ; no metallic scales 

 on top of head, different from those of the upper parts at large ; no special head-mark- 

 ings additional to the colors already described. Bill light-colored, probably flesh- 

 colored in life, with the tip» and commissural edge of the upper mandible dusky, quita 

 broad and flattened at base, thence gradually tapering to the acuminate tip, slightly 

 bent downward, the curve most noticeable just back of the middle. Nasal scale large 

 and tumid; nasal slit entirely exposed; feathers extending in a point on the sides of 



