352 TEOCHILID^. 



j'". nostrum hrevius, rectius ; cauda rectricibus mediis abrwpte acutis. 

 e*. Aut remex aloe extimus aut caudce rectrices laterales ad apicem filiformes. 



SELASPHORUS. 



Selasphorus, Swainson, Faun. Bor.-Atn. ii. p. 496 ; Salv. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. p. 391. 



This genus is closely allied to Trochilus, both having the bill in all their species 

 shorter and straighter than in Calothorax. In Selasphorus either the outermost 

 primary is reduced to a filiform end as in ^S*. platycercus, or the outer rectrices are so 

 reduced, as in the other members of the genus. The throat of the males of all the species 

 is glittering red. In one section of the genus the lateral gular feathers are elongated, 

 in the others they are not so. 



Selasphorus contains eight species, all of which, except the Califomian S. alleni, 

 occur within our limits. Of these, S. rufus, S. platycercus, and the little-known 

 S. floredi pass beyond our northern frontier — the first named wintering only in Mexico. 

 The other four species are all peculiar to the mountains of the southern section of our 

 country. 



1. Selasphorus floresii. 



Selasphorus floresii, Gould, Mon. Troch. iii. t. 139 (Sept. 1861)'; de Oca, La Nat. iii. p. 101, 



t. — '; Salv. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. p. 392 \ 

 Trochilus floresii, Bryant, Forest & Stream, xxvi. p. 426 * ; Chapman, Auk, 1888, p. 396 '. 

 Trochilus rubromitratus, Ridgw. Auk, 1891, p. 114 ^. 



" Capite summo et gula micanti-rubris violaceo tinctis praecipue in pileo et guise apicibus ; pectore efc abdomine 

 medio griseo-albis ; corpore supra et tectricibus supracaudalibus cupreo-viridibus, hypocbondriis ejusdem 

 coloris sed pallidioribus, caudae rectricibus duabus mediis viridibus purpureo tinctis, rectricibus lateraUbos 

 in pogonio externo purpureis, ia pogonio intemo rufescenti-cervinis ; alis purpureo-brunneis : rostro nigro." 

 {Ex Gould.) 



Hah. California * ^. — Mexico, Bolanos (Floresi ^). 



Very little is known of this bird, which for many years remained in obscurity, the 

 only specimen seen having been described by Gould in 1 861, in his well-known ' Mono- 

 graph of the Trochilidae ' ^. This specimen was obtained, it was said, at Bolanos, in 

 the State of Jalisco, by Floresi, and sent to Loddiges, in whose collection it, we believe, 

 still remains. In 1886 another specimen was secured in California, and recorded by 

 Mr. Bryant * and subsequently by Mr. Chapman ^. Partly with a view to the redis- 

 covery of this species, Mr, Richardson made two visits to Bolanos, and though he 

 secured good collections of birds on both occasions, no trace of Selasphcyrus floresii 

 appeared. As the greatest uncertainty prevails regarding the localities of Floresi's 

 specimens, none of them being marked in any way, it is very possible that S. floresii 

 may not be a Mexican bird at all, but belongs exclusively to California. 



