INTRODUCTION. lix 



112. Leadbeatera grata. 



Heliodoxa Leadbeateri Vol. 11. PL 97. 



Habitat, The hilly parts of New Granada. 



It matters not where we place the single species of the genus Aithurus (TrocMlus Polytmus in the body of the 

 work), since it offers no direct alliance to any one group. It is perhaps the most singular and most aberrant of 

 Humming-Birds : for it departs from all the rest in the form of its wings, the second quill-feather being the longest, 

 while in all the others the first exceeds the rest in length : how different also are its other characters ! for instance, 

 the tail is not forked in the usual way, the second feather being lengthened into flowing plumes, which apparently 

 tend more to add to its graceful appearance than to facilitate its aerial evolutions. The young males do not possess 

 this peculiarly formed tail ; and the females are so unlike both, that we should not have even suspected their alliance, 

 had we not positive evidence of it. This very isolated form is a native of Jamaica, and there alone is it found. 

 That so large a bird and so very marked a form should be confined to such a limited area is very surprising. 



Genus Aithurus, Cab, 



113. Aithurus Polytmus. 



Trochilus Polytmus . Vol. II. PL 98. 



Cynanthus polytmus, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 145. 



Polytmus cephalatra^ Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. tom. i. p. 72, Polytmus, sp. 1. 



lb. sp. 2. ; Trochilus stellatus, '^ Gosse," young male ? 



Trochilus Maria, Hill, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vol. iii. p. 258, 1849 ; Gosse, 111. Birds of Jamaica, pi. 22. 



Polytmus viridans, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 11 ; Id. Troch. Enum. p. 9, pi. 799. figs. 4858"60. 



Aithurus polytmus, Cab. et. Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 50. 



Habitat, Jamaica. 



It will be seen that I have placed the Trochilus stellatus of Gosse as a synonym of Aithurus Polytmus ; at the same 

 time it is only justice to state that I have never seen a second specimen in a similar state of plumage, and it may be 

 another species. I make this remark with Mr. Gosse's type specimen before me, it having been kindly presented 

 to me by that gentleman. 



Genus Thalurania, Gould. 



(QdXXco, vireo, et ovpavio^, coelestis.^ 



If all genera were as well defined as that of Thalurania, the ornithologist would be far less perplexed than he 

 frequently is with regard to the position of the species of which they are composed. All the members of this 

 extensive group are characterized by great elegance of contour, the bill, wings, and tail being well proportioned, 

 and in harmony with the size of the body ; green and blue are the prevailing hues of the under-surface, while the 

 crown and throat, and sometimes the shoulders, are ornamented with blue. The females are less elegant in form, 

 and not so beautifully attired, all those parts which are green and blue in the males being, in every instance, I 

 believe, of a dull grey. 



The extent of country ranged over by the members of this group is very great : one, and one only, has been 

 found to the north of Panama; the remainder inhabit all the countries southwai'd to the latitude of Rio de Janeiro. 



114. Thalurania glaucopis . . • . . Vol.11. PL 99. 



Cynanthus glaucopis, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 147. 



Glaucopis frontalis, Burm. Th. Bras. tom. ii. p. 333. 

 Thalurania glaucopis, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 23. 



Habitat. South-eastern Brazil. 



115. Thalurania Watertoni Vol. II. PI. 100. 



Habitat. British Guiana ; and Northern Brazil ? 



116. Thalurania furcata Vol. II. PI. 101. 



Cynanthus fur catus, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii.p. 148. 

 Thalurania Gyrinno, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 7. 

 Coeligena Gyrinno, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 3, pi. 682. figs. 4500-1, 

 Thalurania furcata, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 24. 



