The Anna Hummer 
No. 184 
Anna’s Hummer 
A. 0 . U. No. 431. Calypte anna (Lesson). 
Description. — Adult male: Entire head, save hind crown and sides behind 
eye, iridescent rose-purple, changing to velvety black and with coppery and greenish 
reflections, the latero-posterior feathers of throat elongated; wings and tail, except 
central pair of rectrices, which are like back, purplish dusky; remaining upperparts 
golden green, with bronzy or peacock-blue reflections; underparts olive-dusky, more 
or less overlaid, especially on sides, with metallic golden green, and skirted lightly 
with buffy gray; lightening on throat below gorget and on thighs; tail deeply forked, 
the central feathers broad and rounded, the others doubly truncated, the outermost 
pair much narrower. Bill and feet black. Adult female: Without metallic feathers 
on head, save for scattering, rounded, purple spots on throat; nape, back, and central 
pair of rectrices as in male; pileum greenish or purplish dusky; underparts much lighter, 
sordid whitish or dull buffy on throat and belly; tail double-rounded, the feathers all 
broad and rounded acuminate, greenish gray basally and black subterminally, the 
three outer pairs broadly white-tipped in decreasing ratio. Young males approximate 
to male parent in heavy coloring of underparts, but are more extensively white- or 
buffy-skirted; the metallic colors appear in patches both on throat and crown; the 
tail is first like that of the adult female, and the change to adult male characters in 
this respect does not seem to be exactly correlated with the other changes (as the 
assumption of metallic scales). Young females are like adults, save for some pale 
margining above and for lack of metallic scales on throat. Length of males about 
101.6 (4.00); wing 50 (1.97); tail 31.3 (1.23); bill 18.2 (.72). Females average a little 
less. 
Recognition Marks. —Pygmy size; the largest of the California Hummers; 
rose-purple gorget and crown of male distinctive; female may be known out of hand 
only by large size and absence of rufous; underparts darker and throat more heavily 
spotted than that of the Black-chinned Hummer. 
Nesting. — Nest: Of varied construction and position; a dainty cup of mosses 
and fine plant-shreds bound with cobwebs and usually decorated or covered with 
lichens; lined with plant-downs, chiefly white or yellow, or feathers (sometimes cop¬ 
iously); placed at any height in bush or tree, or occasionally in sheltered places about 
buildings. Eggs: 2; elliptical ovate, occasionally much elongated. Av. of 30 eggs 
from Santa Barbara in the M. C. O. coll.: 12.7 x 8.1 (.50 x .32); index 64. Av. of 24 
in U. S. N. M.: 13.2 x 8.6 (.52 x .34). Season: January-June, but also recorded, 
or by inference, for every month in the year; one or two broods. 
General Range. —Resident in California west of the Sierran divide and in the 
coastal district of northern Lower California; wandering casually during (or after) 
the summer dispersal to mountains of Nevada, Arizona, and Sonora, and to the islands 
off the western coast of Lower California. 
Distribution in California. —Common resident in Upper Sonoran areas west 
of the Sierran divide (thus encircling the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley); north 
coastwise to and including the San Francisco Bay region; sparingly resident on the 
Santa Barbara Islands. The post-breeding altitudinal migration involves neigh¬ 
boring mountains, even to Boreal zones, while not wholly depleting the breeding range. 
Winters sparingly in the northwest humid coastal district and on the Colorado Desert. 
935 
