OREOTROCHILUS ESTELL^. 



Estella's Hill-star. 



Trochilus Estelia.B'Oih.et L^fv.^yn., No. 31. p. 3^.— B Voy. dans I'Am^r. Merid., 



torn. iv. p. 376. 



Orthorhynchus Estella, D'Orb. Voy. dans I'Amer. Merkl, Atlas, Ois., pi. Q{, fig. 1. 

 Trochilus Cecilice, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 43. 



Oreotrochihis Estelki, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part XV, 1847, p. 10. — Gray and Mitch. 

 Gen. of Birds, Oreotrochihis, sp. 1. 



If M. D'Orbigny was not the first who discovered, he was certainly the first who described this fine 

 species of Humming Bird, the rarity of which in our collections may be attributed to the circumstance of 

 its being an inhabitant of those high mountain ranges which are rarely visited by European travellers and 

 naturalists. " We have only met with this charming species," says M. D'Orbigny, *' in the valley in which 

 is situated the town of La Paz, in Bolivia, at the foot of the western side of the eastern Cordilleras. It 

 inhabits dry and elevated places, at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet above the level of the ocean. 

 It is solitary in its habits, flits about from flower to flower, and often rests upon shrubs and trees. Its 

 food consists of insects of various kinds," and the pollen of flowers. 



Mr. Bridges procured numerous examples during his late expedition into Bolivia, some of which were 

 obtained at a higher elevation than that mentioned by M. D'Orbigny. 



The sexes offer very considerable differences in their size and plumage, the female being by far the 

 smaller bird, and entirely wanting the rich green of the throat which is so conspicuous in the male. The 

 young males of the year assume an intermediate style of colouring, the green of the throat being obscurely 

 indicated, and the mark on the centre of the abdomen being much less apparent than in the adult. 



The male has the head, all the upper surface and wings greyish olive-brown, passing into dull coppery 

 green on the upper taiUcoverts ; two centre tail-feathers and the outer one on each side, (which has an in- 

 ward curvature,) green with bronze reflexions, the remainder narrowly edged on the external webs with 

 brown ; throat rich luminous grass-green, bounded below with a crescentic band of deep velvety black with 

 blue reflexions ; flanks olive-brown ; breast and sides of the abdomen white ; down the centre of the 

 abdomen a mark of chestnut; under tail-coverts olive with green reflexions; tarsi clothed with brown 

 feathers ; bill and feet brownish black ; irides blackish brown. 



Total length, 5^ inches; bill, H; wing, 3; tail, 21; tarsus, -x^. 



The female has the upper surface the same as the male ; the two middle tail-feathers brownish green, 

 the remainder white with a band of green across the centre : the outer feather on each side, which is much 

 shorter than the rest, less pointed, and less inwardly curved than in the male, is of a browner hue 

 with bluish green reflexions; throat white, regularly spangled with brown, obscurely tinted with blue; 

 chest and abdomen brownish white, the brown predominating on the flanks. 



Total length, 4f inches; bill, li- ; wing, 2i; tail, 2; tarsus, iV. 



The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Phycella Herbertiana. 



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