ERIOCNEMIS ASSIMILIS, miioi 



Brown-booted Puflf-leff. 



Eriocnemis assimilis, Elliot, Bull Soc. Zool. France, i. p. 227 (1876) ; id. Synopsis of tl 

 Humming-Birds, p. 189 (1878). 



This appears be a very good and distinct species, according to the indications of Mr. Elliot, who described it 

 from specimens collected by Mr. Clarence Buckley at Tilotilo and Apollo in Bolivia. It is distinguished by 

 its uniform pale brown puffs on the tarsi. Mr. Elliot observes :—" It is very close to E, aurelice of Bourcier 

 and Mulsant, but has the downy tufts on the tarsi uniform yellowish brown, whereas in E. aurelicB they are 

 white, with some of them reddish or rosy at the base. There is between these two species just the same 

 difference as exists between E. lugens and E. squamata of Gould ; and these latter are generally accepted bv 

 naturalists as good species. The throat is lighter than the breast ; but E. aurelm has the throat blackish, 

 very different in colour to that of E. assiinilis. The size of the two birds is almost the same; if one can 

 find any difference, the present species is perhaps a little smaller. I have two specimens exactly similar to 

 each other in my collection." 



The following full description is further given by Mr. Elliot in his ' Synopsis :'— 



''Adult. Head, neck, and upper tail-coverts coppery red ; back and wing-coverts shining green; wings 

 purple-brown; underparts shining green with a coppery lustre, lightest on the throat; abdomen buff; 

 under tail-coverts shining green, margined with buff; tarsal tufts pale brown; tail bronze at the base, 

 passing to black at the tips ; bill black ; feet light brown. Total length 31 inches, wing 21, tail If, 

 culmen f." 



ERIOCNEMIS SMARAGDINIPECTUS, Gould. 



Green-breasted Puff-leg*. 



Eriocnemis smaragdinipectus, Gould, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) i. p. 322 (1868). — -Elliot, 

 Ibis, 1872, p. 295.— Mulsant, Hist. Nat. Oiseaux-Mouches, iii. p. 35 (1876).— 

 Elliot, Synopsis of the Humming- Birds, p. 194 (1878). 



The present species is one of the white-booted Puff-legs, and belongs to the blue-throated section. It is 

 further distinguished, as Mr. Elliot points out, by its golden-green under surface. 



The following is my original account of the species : — 



" This species, which is from the neighbourhood of Quito, is very closely allied to Eriocnemis vestita, but 

 differs from that bird in the green of the breast commencing immediately below the blue throat-spot, 

 whereas in five old males of E. vesiita, when viewed in bright sunlight, a black band is seen separating the 

 two colours. It is true that this band is green in certain lights; but the feathers are of a different 

 structure to those of the Quitan species. Taking the average of seven specimens of both kinds, I find that 

 E. smaragdinipectus has a rather longer bill and somewhat shorter wing than E. vestita; in all other 

 respects their dimensions are very similar. The green of the abdomen of the former is more pure, or not 

 so yellow as the same part of the latter 5 in the gorgeous colouring of the rump perhaps the Quitan bird is 

 somewhat less resplendent than the Bogotan E. mstita. I have ample materials at my disposal for 

 determining the distinctness of the two birds ; and, however similar they may be, there are sufficient 

 tangible characters by which each may be recognized, and to show that they are really different." 



Head and upper surface dullish grass-green ; rump and upper tail-coverts resplendently luminous yellowish 

 green ; on the throat a patch of violet-blue ; thence to the vent glittering grass-green ; under tail-coverts 

 bright blue; thighs thickly clothed with white downy feathers; bill, primaries, and tail-feathers black. 

 Total length 4 inches, bill if, wing 2i%, tail If, 



