228 LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMEEICAN BIRDS. 



pJiorus plaUjcerc'US and many Eugenes fulgens and Cceligena demencm were seen 

 daily about, the clumps. Early on the mornmg of June 9, in company with 

 Mr. Fred. Hall Fowler, the writer saw a female BasUinna leucotis sitting on a 

 dead twig of a Lonicera bush, close to the ground, Avarjning itself in the rays of 

 the rising sun. The Avhite stripe on tlie side of the head was plainly visible, 

 and led to its speedy capture. Subsequently others were looked for, but none 

 were seen."^ 



Messrs. Salvin and Godman say: "This is one of the commonest and most 

 characteristic of tlie Hummingbirds of the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala, 

 its range extending from the States of Sonora and Tamaulipas to the uplands of 

 Nicaragua, birds from these widely separated districts presenting no appreciable 

 difference. Its range in altitude is considerable. It does not occur much below 

 4,000 feet above sea level, and thence reaches as high as 7,000 or 8,000 feet. 

 On the slopes of the Volcan de Fuego we used to find it not uncommonly in 

 open glades of the oak forests, where it took its food from any plants that 

 happened to be in flower. Of tlie breeding habits of this sj^ecies we have no 

 account, but a three parts grown bird from Sierra de Victoria was shot by Mr. 

 Richardson in April; so that the nesting time in that district -would commence in 

 March or the end of February. But the nesting season probably extends over a 

 considerable period, for De Oca says he once found a nest in December, though 

 the usual nesting time in the Valley of Mexico, where the bird is more common 

 than at Jalapa, is in July and August. According to Villada it feeds from the 

 flowers of Cacti and Agave, and also from those of Bouvardia and Salvia." 



I have been unable to find a detailed description of the nest and eggs of 

 this species, and there are no specimens in the United States National Museum 

 collection. 



83. lache latirostris (Swainson). 



BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD. 



Gynantlms latirostris Swainson, Philosophical Magazine, 1827, 441. 



lache latirostris Elliott, Classification and Syuopsis of the Trochilid;e, March, 1879, 235. 

 (B _, — , R 348, C 421, U 441.) 



GrEOGRAPHiCAL RANGE: Mountains of southern Arizona and southwestern New 

 Mexico; south to the Valley of Mexico aud Michoacau, Mexico. 



The Broad-billed or Circe Hummingbird appears to be a moderately com- 

 mon summer resident in suitable localities in southern Arizona and southwestern 

 New Mexico, at altitudes from 3,500 to 5,000 feet. It was first added to our 

 fauna by Mr. H. W. Henshaw, who took two adult males in the Santa Rita 

 Mountains, a few miles from old Camp Crittenden, Arizona, on August 23, 1874. 

 Since then it has also been taken by Mr. F. Stephens in the same locality, where 

 he secured five specimens, which are now in Mr. William Brewster's collection. 



' The Aub, Vol. XI, 1894, p. 32.0-326. 



^Biologia Centrali Americana, Aves, Vol. II, July, 1892, pp. 313, 314. 



