June i, 1891] 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



43 



iwnmtng 



Notes on Rare Species of Humming Birds 

 and Descriptions of Several Supposed 

 New Species in Boucard's Museum. 



By A. Boucard. 

 Continued from page . 18 and 26. 



Hemistephania Johannae Bourc 

 Doryphora Johannae Gould. 



Male. — Forehead, metallic blue, with violet reflec- 

 tions ; upper surface, bronze green, golden on neck ; 

 upper tail coverts, grayish blue ; tail, black with bluish 

 hue ; under surface, glossy bluish black, greenish on 

 the flanks ; undertail coverts, violet blue ; tail, bluish- 

 black with grey tips ; bill, black. 



Length, 4^ ; wing, a| ; tail, i| ; bill, if. 



Habitat, Columbia, Guiana. 



Female. — Forehead, metallic green ; upper surface, 

 bronze green, coppery on head and neck ; upper tail 

 coverts, grayish blue ; tail, black, largely tipped with 

 grey underneath ; under surface greenish grey ; bill, 

 black. 



It is this bird which has been described under the 

 name of D. euphrosinae by Messrs. Mulsant and 

 Verreaux ; but having received a certain number of 

 males and females from Columbia and Guiana I am 

 perfectly satisfied that the name of H. euphrosinae 

 must be considered as a synonym of H. Johannae. 



I have a pair of this species collected in British 

 Guiana by Mr. H. Whitely ; the female has a golden 

 grey under surface instead of greenish gray. It may 

 be a question of age. 



Hemistephania Ludoviciae, Bourc and Muls. 



Male. — Forehead, metallic green ; crown and nape, 

 coppery green ; back, golden green ; upper-tail coverts, 

 bluish green ; tail, black ; under surface golden gray ; 

 under-tail coverts, gray with bluish reflections ; tail, 

 black, tipped with grey ; bill, black ; wings, purple. 

 Total length, 4 J ; wing, 2\ ; tail, 1^ ; bill, i-|. 

 Habitat, Columbia, Bolivia. 



Female. — Forehead, metallic gold ; upper surface 

 exactly as the male ; under surface, more golden gray 

 than in the male. 



A new species could be made with this bird in 

 consequence of the colour of the forehead ; but I 

 believe that they are only sexes, and the specimens 

 which have no metallic frontal spot are only young 

 individuals. It would be very interesting that com- 

 petent naturalists should collect large series of both 

 sexes of this species to elucidate the question of 

 knowing if the two sexes have frontal spots. 



Among my specimens of this species, I have one 

 from Merida (Venezuela), and another from Bolivia, 

 collected by the late Buckley. They are exactly the 

 same as the specimens from Columbia. Some have 

 much longer bills than others, and are also larger in 



size 



Bellona Superba, n.sp. 

 Male. — Forehead crest golden green, with the 

 elongated feathers of crest bluish ; upper surface, dark 

 grass green, darker on the back ; tail, purplish black ; 

 throat, dark grey ; under surface, purplish black ; 

 wings, steel black. 



Total length 3! ; wing if ; tail 1 ; bill \. 



Female. — Forehead, dark green ; upper surface, dark 

 golden green, appearing black on neck ; chin, grey ; 

 rest of under surface, dark grey, nearly black ; wing, 

 purplish brown ; tail, purplish black ; bill and feet, 

 black. 



Habitat, St. Vincent. 



I have a fine series of this new species, which 

 differs considerably from Bellona cristata by the form 

 of the crest, which is pointed as in B. exilis, and has 

 not the deep blue colour of B. cristata. 

 Lesbia, boliviana, n.sp. 



Male. — Upper surface, breast and flanks, golden 

 green ; throat, metallic golden green ; wings, purplish 

 brown ; vent, deep buff ; under tail coverts, buff, with 

 a very narrow central band golden green ; tail, purple 

 black ; the six central rectrices black at base, with half 

 their apical metallic golden green ; the black is 

 scarcely conspicuous, the two next purple black, with 

 metallic golden tips, and the two outermost ones, 

 purple black, with a scarcely visible golden tip, and 

 the basal third of outer web rufous grey ; bill, black. 



Total length, 7f ; wing, 2^ ;tail, 5I ; bill, \. 



I have only one specimen of this fine species, 

 collected in Bolivia by the late well-known collector, 

 Buckley. 



The principal difference between this species and 

 Lesbia nuna consists in its golden colour of the throat, 

 and the general colour of the bird, which is golden 

 instead of grass green. 



Description of a supposed New Species of 

 Paradise Bird in Boucard's Museum. 



By A. Boucard. 



but none so large as H. rectirostris from 

 Ecuador. If, contrary to my expectations, it should 

 prove a different species, I propose the name of 

 H. aurifrons for it. 



I have bought lately several specimens of Paradise 

 Birds, which I took for Semioptera Wallacei ; but 

 having compared these birds with the specimens 

 which I have in my collection, specimens collected by 

 Mr. Alfred Wallace in Batchian, I was agreeably 

 surprised to see that they were quite different, and 

 now I propose for that new species the name of 

 Semioptera Gouldi, as a feeble homage to the memory 

 of him, which I think will rank among the greatest 

 Naturalists of the nineteenth centUiy. I have not the 

 least doubt that if so many eminent Ornithologists 

 exist actually in England, it is in great part due to 

 the great impulse given by the late John Gould to the 

 study of that special branch of Natural History, by 

 the publication of so many splendid works, edited by 

 him during his life. John Gould was not only an 

 eminent naturalist, but also an incomparable artist, 

 and his works will always rank among the best. Ht 

 was such an enthusiastic ornithologist, that even at 

 death's door he was hard at work at his favourite 

 study, and we may say of him that he died of a noble 

 death as a warrior in the field of battle. 

 Semioptera Gouldi, n.sp. 

 Male. — Forehead, glossy dark purple, with rosy 



