BIRDS OF WESTERN COLOMBIA. 1177 



shining coppery red, passing into golden green on the occiput ; in 

 the two other, apparently immature, birds the forehead is dull 

 greyish, while the feathers of the crown are dusky, tipped witli 

 bronze-green and edged with reddish bronze. No. 2074 shows a 

 strong bluish tinge on the nape, completely absent in the other 

 examples. 



With regard to the variation of this species, cfr. Simon, Bull. 

 Mus. Paris, 1907, no. 1, p. 17. 



A. cequatorialis is strictly confined to the lowlands and hill- 

 ranges of Western Ecuador and Colombia, ranging from near 

 sea -level up to about 2400 feet. 



135. Threnetes ruckeri fraseri Gould. 



[Trochilus Ruckeri Bourcier, P. Z. S. 1847, p. 46 (May 1847— 

 loc. ign.)*.] 



Glaucis fraseri Gould, Monogr. Trochil. pt. xxiv. pi. 12 (1861. 

 — Esmeraldas, N.W. Ecuador). 



Threnetes fraseri Hartert, Nov. Zool. v. 1898, p. 493 (Cachabi, 

 N.W. Ecuador) ; Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash, xxiii. 1910, p. 72 

 (Naranjito, Rio Dagua ; Palmer coll.). 



Threnetes rucheri (sic) Bovicard, 'Humming Bird,' v. 1895, p. 7 

 (Rio Dagua). 



No. 2417. <3 fere ad. Novita, 150 ft., 19.xii.08.— Wing 60 ; 

 tail 38 ; bill 31 mm. 



" Iris black, feet pink, maxilla black, mandible yellow." 

 The differences separating T. r. ruckeri and T. r. fraseri are so 

 slight that their relationship is better expressed by trinomials. 

 One of the principal characters given by authors for the southern 

 bird, namely, the lesser extent of the cinnamon-rufous patch on the 

 foreneck, is of no value at all. Adult males of fi-aseri have quite 

 as much, sometimes even more, rufous on the jugulum than 

 Central American skins. The only constant points by which to 

 tell fraseri are the rather darker smoke-grey belly, the pure 

 metallic green upper parts, without any bronzy or golden gloss, 

 and the much deeper, decidedl}'' bluish-black colou.r of the median 

 portion of the lateral rectrices. 



Specimens from Western Ecuador have the two central 

 rectrices dull green, passing to nearly blackish green towards the 

 tip, while in the male from Novita they are much brighter, uniform 

 metallic green. In that respect the Choco bird slightly points 

 towards rucheri from Centi'al America, but otherwise it is 

 perfectly typical oi fraseri. 



T. r. fraseri inhabits the forest-covered lowlands of Western 

 Colombia and Western Ecuador f, fi^om sea-level up to about 

 700 feet. 



* Bourcier's rather vague description is possibly not referable to the present species. 

 The words "gorge et dessous du corps gris-noir bronze " can scarcely be applied to 

 T. ruckeri auct., and a re-examination of the type in the Loddiges Collection 

 seems desirable. 



t Its reported occurrence in Eastern Ecuador (Saraj'acu : cfr. Cat. B. xvi. p. 266) 

 rests on two of Buckley's skins, no doubt incorrectly labelled. 



