114 ~ THE CONDOR Vol. XX 



though not so very different in size. Slender instead of plump bodied on their 

 long legs, the Willet 's head motion was less pronounced than the spearing of 

 the Plover, suggesting rather a forward gaze than an active movement. 



In hard metallic tones, though with individual quality, the mother kept 

 crying, Wil-let, wil-let, as she flew around us, the broad black and white areas 

 of her wings and the white base and dusky tip of her tail showing handsomely, 

 her long legs extending beyond her body as she flew, being dropped down be- 

 fore alighting. Decoying with heroic fearlessness, she flew around close over 

 us, lighting in the grass beside the road, on the road ahead of the dog, and actu- 

 ally on the side of the pool in which the dog stood — where she was reflected in 

 the water. No exposure was too great, no risk too heavy to draw the fire from 

 her young. When at last we started on the frantic mother actually flew down 

 in the road and ran ahead of the dog. Attracted by some slight motion in the op- 

 posite field we discovered two more young standing by a tiny pool, from which 

 the three had probably come at first. No wonder she was distracted, with foar 

 young, two on either side of us ! 



When we had gone nearly a mile, the quick-eared child interrupted our 

 talk, exclaiming, ' ' I hear a Willet, ' ' and sure enough, there was the old bird still 

 following us ! She may have had some other errand of her own, as she was fly- 

 ing toward the lake, but in any case, her devotion to her family knew no bounds. 

 The prairie seemed enriched by the adventure. And yet, like the Upland Plover, 

 the Willet is said to be doomed unless those who have the right, soon stay the 

 hands with the gun. 



(To be continued) 



COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD— ITS TYPE LOCALITY, EARLY HISTORY 



AND NAME 



By T. S. PALMER 



CALYPTE COSTAE, collected by Neboux, described by Bourcier, named in 

 honor of Costa, and based on a specimen from "California", has long 

 been shrouded in mystery as to the history of its collector, its describer, 

 and its namesake, as well as to its type locality. In 1839 Jules Bourcier, the 

 French trochilidist, in one of his earliest papers on hummingbirds, described a 

 specimen from California under the name Ornismya costae in the "Revue Zool- 

 ogique" (II, p. 294, Oct. 1839). Two other notes published in the following 

 volume of the "Revue Zoologique" should be read in connection with this de- 

 scription. In one published by Longuemare and Parzudaki (III, p. 71, May, 

 1840), reference is made to the original description, but the type locality is 

 given as "Baie de la Madeleine, basse Calif ornie". This statement is signifi- 

 cant in view of the fact that it was through Parzudaki that Bourcier obtained 

 his specimen. In the other, Dr. Neboux (III, p. 289, Oct. 1840) begs the Direc- 

 tor of the "Revue Zoologique" to state that "le Souimanga dont M. de La 

 Fresnaye a fait un genre sous le nom de HeterorhyncJius olivaceus et l'Oiseau- 



