INTRODUCTION. xci 



Coeligena purpurea, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 3, pi. 753. figs 4727-28. 

 Lampropygia purpurea. Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 71, note. 

 Habitat. Popayan. 



284. Lampropygia Prunellei. 



Coeligena Prunelli ... Yo\. IV. PL 257. 



Bourcieria Prunelli, Reichenb. Troch Enum. p. 7, pi. 750. figs. 4721-22. 



Homophania Prunelli, Cab. et Hein, Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 79. 



Habitat. Andes of New Granada. Common in collections from Boo-ota. 



285. Lampropygia Wilsoni. 



Coehgena Wilsoni Vol. IV. PL 258. 



Habitat, Ecuador. 



A group rather than a genus next claims our attention ; for two or three very well-marked divisions occur 

 among the birds I have figured under the generic name of Heliomaster. Unlike the last, which are confined within 

 certain limits, these birds are widely spread, some of them over Mexico and Central America, and others over 

 Venezuela, and even further south than the latitude of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. 



The members of this section of the Trochilidee are of rather large size, have long straight bills, lengthened 

 wings, and a structure admirably adapted for aerial progression. The males are mostly clothed with fine colours 

 on the crown and throat. 



The species of the 



Genus Heliomaster, Bo?u/p., 



as now restricted, are at least five or six in number, and four of them are inhabitants of Central America or 

 countries north of the Isthmus of Panama. Their short, nearly square tails, the outer feathers of which, too-ether 

 with their under tail-coverts, are spotted with white, render them very conspicuous. 



286. Heliomaster longirostris ........... Vol. IV. PL 259 



Selasphorus longirostris, Reichenb., Troch. Enum. p. 11. 



Habitat. Trinidad. 



287. Heliomaster Stuarts, Lawr. 



Heliomaster longirostris, Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part xxv. p. 16. 



Stuart(B, Lawr. Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist, in New York, April 9, 1860. 



Habitat. New Granada ; the neighbourhood of Bogota. 



Mr. G. N. Lawrence, of New York, considers the bird from Bogota to be distinct from the Heliomaster 

 longirostris of Trinidad, and has assigned to it the distinctive appellation of Stuartce, in honour of a most estimable 

 lady, the wife of R. L. Stuart, Esq., of New York. 



For my own part, I have always regarded the Bogota and Trinidad birds as one and the same ; but Mr. 

 Lawrence has ever maintained that they are distinct ; and on the day when these remarks were written I received 

 from him a copy of the first part of his paper entitled " Catalogue of a Collection of Birds made in New Granada, 

 by James McLennan, Esq., of New York," in which, referring to his Heliomaster Stuartce, he says: — "^ Since 

 describing this species, I have had an opportunity of examining seven other specimens from Bogota. I find the 

 bills of these to be quite as long as those of H. longirostris ; but they are much stouter, and the base of the bill is 

 very broad and bare of feathers, whereas in longirostris the bill is comparatively narrow at the base, and the 

 feathers extend quite forward on the bill. These diff^erences were constant in an equal number of each species." 



Whether the birds are really distinct or mere local varieties, time and the acquisition of a larger number of 

 specimens must determine. I have in my own collection two specimens of another bird of this form, which bear a 

 very general resemblance both in size and markings ; but the crown, instead of being bluish green, is positive blue. 

 So decided is this colour, that I have no hesitation in saying that, if so slight a difference is allowed to separate the 

 Bogotan and Trinidadian birds, these also must be regarded as belonging to a distinct species, and the term 

 Sclateri, which has been proposed by Dr. Cabanis, be used for them. I have two very fine males of this bird in 

 fully adult plumage, killed by M. Warszewicz in Costa Rica ; but in what particular locality, is unknown to me. 

 Besides the Costa-Rican bird, I have another, still more different, from Southern Mexico, a most charming 



