MICEOCHEEA.— CALLIPHAEUS. 269 



diminutive creature. After a considerable number of dippings it alighted on a Uvig 

 near at hand, and commenced pluming its feathers." 



Dr. Merritt considered that the flight of this species was not so persistent as that of 

 other Humming-Birds, as it appeared to rest more frequently : this he attributed to 

 the extreme shortness of its wings. 



Our collector Arce procured us many specimens of M. alhocoronata, most of which 

 he obtained near Santiago de Veraguas. These include adults of both sexes, as well 

 as young males in various states of advancing plumage. The latter at first resemble 

 the female, the dark feathers of the under surface are then gradually developed, and 

 last of all the white crown is assumed. 



Gould's drawings were taken from the typical specimens lent him by Mr. Lawrence. 



2. Microchera parvirostris. 



Panychlora parvirostris, Lawr. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1865, p. 39^. 



Microchera parvirostris, Salv. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 154.''; Ibis, 1872, p. 319'; 1892, p. 327 '; Cat. 

 Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. p. 67 ' ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 122 ' ; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1878, 

 p. 69''; Gould, Mon. Troch. Suppl. t. 30 (Aug. 1880)'; Zeledon, An, Mus. Nac. Costa 

 Rica, 1887, p. 121 \ 



M. alhocoronata similis, sed colore plerumque laetiore nitenti-cupreo-rubido ; caudse fascia terminali latiore, 



margine suo interno male definito. 

 5 feminsB M. alhoeoronatce quoque similis, sed cauda ad basin angustiore, alba fascia snbterminali latiore, et 

 margine suo intemo male definito. (Descr. maris et feminse ex Chontales, Xicaragua. 3Ius. nostr.) 



Hob. NiCAEAGUA, Matagalpa {W. B. Richardson^), Chontales [Belt^); Costa Eica, 

 Tucurriqui {Arce ^), Angostura ^ ^, La Balsa ^ {Carmiol), Eio Sucio {Zeledon^). 



Mr. Lawrence's description ^ of this bird was based upon a female which he con- 

 sidered to belong to the genus Panychlora, and, having a shorter bill than usual in 

 members of that genus, he called it P. parvirostris, a specific name that loses its 

 signification now that the bird is better known, and proves to be a Microchera closely 

 allied to, but quite distinct from, M. alhocoronata. 



The range of this species extends from Costa Rica, where it was first discovered, 

 to Nicaragua. In the latter country Belt obtained a series of beautiful specimens 

 at Chontales^, and quite recently we have received a young male example from 

 Mr. Eichardson, who shot it near Matagalpa in the mountains near the sources of 

 the Segovia river *. 



b®. Pileus niger, tegulae nasales hand omnino plumis ohtectce. 



CALLIPHAEUS. 



Eupherusa {Clotho), Mulsant, Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, xsii. p. 205 (1875). 

 Callipharus, Elliot, Syn. Troch. p. 211 ; Salv. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. p. 67. 



The single species included in this genus was described by Mr. Lawrence as a 



