TBOCHILIDM — TBOCHILINJE : HUMMING-BIBBS. 



463 



Fig. 307. — Tail 

 of iS". alleni, nat. size. 



Fig. 308. — Green -backed Eufons 

 Humming-bird, ^fi nat. size. (From 

 Elliot. ) 



phiycereus the same feather is 0.25 wide, and over 1.00 long.) Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, N. 

 to Alaska ; the commonest and most extensively distributed species in the West. Noted as 

 the northernmost known species of the family. (This is S. rufus, Gm., the true " Nootka 

 Sound Humming-bird," the $ easily known by its cinnamon-red back, and the nick in the 

 ' next to the middle tail-feather. S. henshawi Elliot.) 



412. S. al'leni. (To C. A. Allen, of California. Figs. 307, 308.) Green-backed EuFOUS Humming- 

 BiRn. Allen Humming-bird. In generalities similar to the last. ^ : Two outer tail-feathers 



on each side very small and narrow, the 



outermost almost acicular ; next little 



larger; third abruptly larger; fourth from 



the outer smaller than third or middle 



pair. Upper parts golden-green, dullest 



on crown. Under tail-coverts, belly and 



sides cinnamon, paler on the median 



line, white on breast next to the gorget. 



Tail-feathers cinnamon, tipped and edged 



with dusky-purpUsh. Gorget fiery-red. 

 Length about 3.00 ; wing 1.50; tail 1.18 ; bill 0.64. ? 

 similar to ? rufus; averaging smaller; tail-feathers nar- 

 rower, especially the outer ones. Coast region of California 

 and northward. (This is the bird of ten described as 9 

 rufus; carefully distinguished by Henshaw, Bull. Nutt. 

 Club, ii, 1877, p. 53 ; considered by Elliot to be true 

 rufus Gm.) 



413. S. platycer'cus. (Gr. irKarvs, platus, broad ; Kcpxos, kerkos, tail. Fig. 309.) Broad-tailed 

 Humming-bird. $ : No scales on top of head ; crown like back. A gorget of scales, not 

 prolonged into a ruff. Outer primary attenuate, acuminate, ending acicular, the point turned 

 outward ; next primary also narrowed, not so much so as the first, its end obliquely incised with 

 a slight nick. Tail ample ; middle feathers scarcely or not shorter than the next, but the rest 

 rapidly graduated ; middle and several lateral ones broad, briefly acuminate, the outermost nar- 

 rowed linearly with rounded end. Above, 

 ineludiug crown, golden-green ; the two 

 middle tail-feathers purer shining grass- 

 green; lateral tail-feathers purplish- 

 dusky, some of them with narrow longi- 

 tudinal chestnut edging only on one or 

 the other web (a strong character of the 

 species : compare extensively rufous tail- 

 feathers of the two foregoing species). 

 Gorget glancing lilac-red: other under 

 parts whitish, glossed with golden-green 

 on the sides a.nd sometimes elsewhere. 

 QuiUs purplish-dusky. Length nearly 

 or quite 4.00; extent 4.75-5.00; wing 



9 : Outer primary narrow and falcate, but without 

 special attenuation at end. Outermost tail-feather narrower than the rest, as in the $, but the 

 others rouuded at ends, not acuminate. Lateral tail-feathers chestnut at base quite across, then 

 black for a space, then white-tipped. Above, like $ ; below, no gorget, the throat white with 

 dark specks ; no green on sides, whiA are more or less rufous, as in >S. rufus ? , from which 

 some care must be taken in disrarimination. It is usually less rufous below ; -middle tail-feathers 



Fig. 309. —Broad-tailed Humming-bird, (f, $, nat. Bi»e. 

 (From Elliot. ) 



nearly or quite 2.00 ; tail 1.35 ; bill 0.70. 



