yORTB AMERICAN BIRDS. ■ 29J 



431. ANNAS HUMMINGBIRD. Calypte anna (Less.) Geog. Dist.— Valleys 

 of Calltornia, Arizona and Mexico 



Anoa s Hummingbird is a common resident of California; its nest and eggs can 

 be found almost any time in May and June. In the vicinity ot naywards, California, 

 Mr, Emerson took a nest of this species which contained two eggs, January 20. It 

 was built in slender forks of a pear tree, about eight feet from the ground. Over 

 the entire outside of this nest are distributed green lichens. Mr. H. R. Taylor, o£ 

 Alameda, California, records a nest containing two eggs far advanced in incubation, 

 which he found February 13. The nest was placed about thirty feet from the 

 ground, near the end of slender limb of a cypress tree. The birds build in trees, 

 and are not particular what kind or where they are situated; on hillside, along 

 creeks,' in orchards or in gardens. Ten nests collected by Mr. R. B. Herron, at San. 

 Gorgonio Pass, California, in May, do not exhibit great variation in their general 

 make-up and style. They are composed of thistle-down and willow-cotton, with 

 occasionally a few small feathers and bits of flower stems; on the outside, moss 

 well covered with spider webs, with here and there pieces of lichens. Eggs same as 

 those of T. coluhris'; four specimens measure as follows: .45x.30, .47x.30, .49x.32, 

 .49x.30, Tweniy-four eggs have an average size of .50x.32. 



431. 1. FLOKESI'S HUMMINGBIRD. Selasphorus floresii Gould. Geog.. 

 Dist. — Mexico (Bolanos, Jalisco); accidental to California. 



Floresi's Hummingbird or Flame-bearer, of exquisitely gorgeous plumage, can 

 only be considered an accidental straggler within the borders of the United States 

 and still is very rare in collections. It was obtained at Bolano, Oaxaca, Mexico, in 

 1845, and remained unique for some time; more recently it has been reported from 

 the State of Jalisco. Mr. Walter E. Bryant found a specimen in a taxidermist's shop 

 in San Francisco, California, which had been mounted as a hat bird. He was as- 

 sured that it had been killed near that city, which gives it a place in our avifauna. 

 Nothing appears to be known regarding the life history of this species. 



432. BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. Selasphorus platycercus Swains. 

 Geog. Dist. — Rocky Mountain plateau region of the United States, from Montana, 

 Idaho and Wyoming southward to Guatemala. 



This Hummingbird is a common species in the Rocky Mountain regions of the 

 United States, and is particularly numerous in New Mexico, Colorado and northward. 

 In its flight it is said to utter almost constantly a sharp screeching or chattering 

 note. Large numbers of these birds are often found breeding in thickets of dwarf 

 willows along streams. The nests are beautiful structures, composed of soft, vege- 

 table down and covered externally with lichens and bark-fibre,' resembling the twigs- 

 to which they are attached, and their height from the ground ranges from three to 

 ten feet. The nests are similar to those of the Ruby-throat, but are usually sus- 

 pended on small, swaying twigs, sometimes directly over running water. In Colo- 

 rado this species rears two broods in a season. Ten eggs before me are not dis- 

 tinguishaole from those of the Ruby-throaled Hummingbird in size, color and 

 shape. 



433. RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. Selasphorus rufus Gmel. Geog. Dist. — 

 Western North America, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast; north to or 

 nearly to Alaska, south over the Table Lands of Mexico. 



The commonest and most extensively distributed Hummingbird of the West; 

 from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and from Mexico northward. Its favorite- 



