AGYRTRIA TACZANO WSKII. 



Taczanowski^s Emerald. 



Thaumaskis taczanoivsUi, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879, p. 146.— Tacz. torn. cit. p. 239 



Id. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1880, p. 208. 

 Leucolia taczanoivskii, Eudes-Deslongcliamps, Cat. Descr. Trochil. i. p. 301. 

 Thaumatias taczanowskii, Tacz, Orn. Perou, i. p. 405 (1884). 



This species was described by Dr. Sclater from a specimen procured by Stolzmann at Guajango, in Peru. 

 It is allied to Agyrtriaviridiceps of Gould, but has a much stronger bill and an even tail, and the spots on the 

 throat are much smaller. Mr. Stolzmann met with the species both at Guajango and Calacate. At the latter 

 place, he writes, *' it is common, visiting the male flowers of the banana trees. It affects the same places as 

 Cyanomyia cyanicolUs. When perching on the dry leaves of the bananas it utters its song, composed of 

 couplets in four tones, three or four times repeated in succession. Often when I have been working in front 

 of my door, one of these Humming-birds has come to catch the mosquitoes, which are very abundant in that 

 locality. As I stood still, the bird came so close to me that I could feel the wind on my face, produced 

 by the vibration of its wing. I thus had the opportunity of observing the maimer in which it seized the 

 mosquitoes, and I am astonished to see that Burmeister denies this habit in the Humming-birds. 



"At Guajango, in the valley of the Maranon, this species is rare, but I have seen it several times about 

 the flowers of the Agave.'' 



Dr. Taczanowski further adds that a specimen is in Dr. Raimondi's collection from Paucal. Count 

 von Berlepsch believes that the species ought to be separated generically, as its form differs widely from 

 that of the members of the genus Agyrtria, 



The following is a translation of Dr. Sclater's original description : — 



"More metallic green, with a coppery gloss on the head; the feathers ashy underneath ; wings dusky, 

 the coverts like the back; the tail equal, uniform with the back, with a coppery tinge towards the tip, 

 underneath dusky, coppery green towards the tip ; the under surface of the body white, washed with j)ale 

 ashy on the sides, and especially on the vent ; the whole of the throat covered with tiny heart-shaped spots 

 of shinine: green ; the bill strong and slightly curved." 



