PETASOPHOEA. 281 



Ptilosis plerumque nitidi-vmdis. 



1. Petasophora thalassina. 



Trochilus thalassinus, Sw. Phil. Mag. new ser. i. p, 441 \ 



Petasophora thalassina, Gould, P. Z. S. 1847, p. 8'; Mon. Troch. iv. t. 227 (May 1853) %• Scl. 



P. Z. S. 1858, p. 297 S- 1859, pp. 367', 386"; 1864, p. 177^; Scl. & Sak Ibis, 1859, 



p. 127^ Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 468'; 1860, pp. 195", 260", 263"; Cat. Birds Biit. Mus. 



xvi. p. 109 " ; Lawr. Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. xiv. p. 284 " ; Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 292 "; 



de Oca, La Nat. iii. p. 64 " ; Sumichrast, La Nat. v. p. 250"; Ferrari-Perez, Pr. U. S.Nat. 



Mus. ix. p. 157 ''; Herrera, La Nat. (2) i. p. 322 ". 

 Ramphodon amis, Less. Hist. Nat. Troch. p. 146, t. 56 '°. 

 Omismya anais, Less. Hist. Nat. Ois.-Mouches, Suppl. p. 104, t. 3^. 

 Trochilus anais, Sw. Birds Braz. & Mex. t. 75 ^\ 



Supra nitenti-gramineo-viridis ; subtas gutture micanti-viridi, plnmis singulis disco obscuriore ; abdomine 

 medio saturate violaceo-cyaneo, hypochondriis et tectricibus subeaudalibus viridibus, his cervino lim- 

 batis : mento, genis et plaga auriculari elongata, nitide violaceis ; rectricibus mediis dorso fere concolor- 

 ibus, reliquis cyauescentioribus, omnibus fascia subterminali nigrieanti-chalybea : rostro nigro. Lon". 

 tota 4-5, alae 2-7, caudae I'l, rostri a rictu 1-0. 



5 mari si milis , sad coloribus omnibus paginae iuferioris minus nitidis. (Descr. maris et feminse ex Duenaa 

 Guatemala. Mus. nosfcr.) 



Hah. Mexico 2 {Benvelet^^, White''), Guanajuato {Sanchez), Temiscaltepec {Bullock'^) 

 Keal del Monte, Ajusco {W. B. Bichardson ^^), Hacienda Eslava, Chimalpa and 

 Tetelco in the Valley of Mexico, Montana de Orizaba, Coatepec ^^, Cordova [Sanchez, 

 F. Ferrari-Perez i^), Jalapa {de Oca ^ i^ M. Trujillo ^% Orizaba {Sumichrast i^], 

 Puebla {Ferrari-Perez ^% Totontepec {A. Boucard^, M. Trujillo), Oaxaca* 

 {Fenochio^^); Guatemala {Skinner^), Quezaltenango {0. S.^% San Martin, 

 Chuipaclie, Tollman (J^. B. Bichardson ^^), Duenas i^, Volcan de Fuego ^^, Montana 

 de Chilasco, Coban {0. S. & F. B. G.). 



This species was first described by Swainson in 1827, from specimens obtained by 

 Bullock at Temiscaltepec in Central Mexico i, and it is now known to be a not uncom- 

 mon bird in the Valley of Mexico i®, chiefly in the months of June and July ^^, and on the 

 eastern edge of the plateau in the State of Vera Cruz. It appears to be absent from 

 the sierras of Western * and North-western Mexico, and though we have not traced 

 it northward of Eeal del Monte in the State of Hidalgo, Senor J. Sanchez gives Guana- 

 juato as one of its localities. In Guatemala it is a common characteristic bird of the 

 highlands, where it keeps almost exclusively to the region of evergreen oaks, its range 

 in altitude extending from about 5000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. In the 

 oak forests it frequents the brushwood, and its presence may often be detected by 

 the rather monotonous song the male utters when resting on a dead twig of some bush. 



Lesson, who gave a very fair figure of this species in his ' Histoire Naturelle des 



* PetasopJwra thalassina, Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 292, ex Tres Marias Is. (Xantus), is based upon 

 a bird wirongly located. 



BIOL. CEifTE.-AMEK., Aves, Vol. II., Juli/ 1892. 36 



