310 
I'ASSEiiKs. BIRDS. TiiocyiLiD^. 
goMeii green ; the abdomen is also golden green ; a 
circular spot on the chin, and the lower tail-coverts, 
arc. metallic blue ; the wings are purplish-brown, and 
the tail blue-black. The colouring of the female is very 
similar but less brilliant, and the snow-white tufts of 
feathers surrounding the legs are much smaller than in 
the male. 
THE METAXLIC PUFF-LEG {Eriocnemis Alincc) is a 
smaller, but almost more brilliant species of this genus, 
the forehead and the whole lower surface of the body 
in the male being of the most splendid golden-green 
colour. The legs of the male are surrounded by very 
large tufts of snow-Avhite feathers. It is an inhabitant 
of the vicinity of Bogota. 
LORD DERBY’S PUFF-LEG {Eriocnemis Derhianus). 
This species, which has hitherto only been found upon 
the e.x.tinct volcano of Purace in New Grenada, is 
remarkable amongst the Puff-legs for having flie tufts 
of delicate feathers with which its legs are adorned, of 
a black colour. Its plumage is generally of a golden 
bronze hue, but the upper and under toil-coverts are of 
a brilliant golden green. 
There are numerous other species of Puff-legs, but of 
these we can only notice that described under the name 
of Eriocnemis Aurelias^ in which the leg-tufts are white, 
tinged with chestnut-brown. 
THE WHITE-BOOTED RACKET-TAIL {Spatliura 
Under woodi). Mr. Gould gives the name of Racket- 
tails to some elegant little species of Humming-birds 
allied to the Puff-legs, and like them furnished with 
tufts of delicate plumes surrounding the feet, but dis- 
tinguished by having the outer tail feathers in the male 
much elongated, very slender for part of their length, 
and terminated by a broad palette. The present is a 
beautiful little species, measuring about three inches in 
length, exclusive of the long tail feathers, which are two 
inches and a half long. The general colour is bronzed 
green, becoming brilliant green on the throat of the 
male, and the leg-tufts or “ boots” are white. This 
bird is found on the Columbian Andes, over a consider- 
able space, but appears to be conlined to the regions 
between five and nine thousand feet above the sea. 
When hovering before a flower, the motion of its wings 
is excgedingly rapid, and produces a loud humming, 
and the elongated tail feathers are very conspicuous. 
Two other species, the Peruvian and the Red-booted 
Racket-tail, have the leg- tufts reddish-buff. 
THE LITTLE HERMIT {F/iaetornis eremita), a small 
species about four inches in length, is of a reddish-buff 
colour, with the head, neck, and back bronzed green, 
the wings deep purplish-brown, and the tail feathers 
bronzed brown, tinged with green, and tipped with 
deep buff ; across the breast there is a black crescent- 
shaped mark. This species is found in Southern Brazil, 
where it appears to be abundant. Its nest is composed 
of various fine vegetable fibres held together by spider’s 
web ; it is in the form of a round deep cup, tapering 
into a long point at the bottom. It is ingeniousl}'^ 
attached by means of cobweb to the extremity of 
a leaf, forming a most elegant cradle for the two 
young birds which are hatched from the delicate 
pdiik-white eggs. 
THE CAYENNE HERMIT {Phaetornis superciliosus)^ 
one of the commonest and best known of the Humming- 
birds, is abundant in Guiana, and also occurs in the 
northern provinces of Brazil. It measures rather more 
than seven inches in length, including the very long 
bill, which is about an inch and three quarters, and the 
two elongated middle tail feathers, which project nearly 
an inch beyond the rest of the tail. The latter char- 
acter is common to nearly all the species of the genus 
Phaetornis. This bird is of a bronzed brown colour 
on the upper surface, with a buff superciliary streak; 
there is also a buff streak beneath the eye ; the lower 
surface is of a dusky fawn colour, passing to buff on 
the lower tail-coverts ; the quill feathers of the wings 
are purplish-brown, and those of the tail bronzed green, 
becoming blackish towards the tip, where the lateral 
feathers are terminated by an arrow-shaped buff mark ; 
the prolonged apical portion of the two middle feathers 
is white. The upper mandible is black, and the lower 
one reddish, with the tip black. There are numerous 
other species of the genus Phaetornis, most of them 
remarkable for elegance of form, although none exhibit 
those brilliant metallic tints with which many other 
Humming-birds are adorned. 
THE STELLA HUMMING-BIRD {Oreotrochilus Es- 
tella) is a beautiful species which is met with in the 
Bolivian Andes at a considerable elevation, specimens 
having been obtamed at more than eleven thousand 
feet above the sea-level. The male is about five inches 
in length, and has the whole idumage of the upper 
parts greyish olive-brown, the lower surface while, with 
a somewhat triangular brown band occupying the centre 
of the abdomen, and a most brilliant golden-green patch 
on the throat, bounded behind by a crescent-shaped 
band of violet-black tinged with shining blue. The 
female is smaller than the male, and has the throat 
white, spotted with brown. From the great elevation 
at which this bird lives, specimens are rare in collec- 
tions. It inhabits dry places, and is solitary in its 
habits, in other respects resembling the rest of its family 
— flitting about from flower to flower, and often resting 
upon the twigs of shrubs and trees. Its food consists 
of insects and the pollen of flowers. 
THE WHITE-SIDED HILL-STAR {Oreotrochilus leu- 
copleurus) resembles the preceding species, but has a 
large triangular black patch upon the abdomen. It is 
an inhabitant of the mountains of Chili, where it is met 
with abundantly at an elevation of ten thousand feet. 
The nest of this species is described by Mr. Gould as 
a dense and warm structure, composed of moss, fine 
vegetable substances, and feathers, and larger in pro- 
portion to the size of the bird than is usual in this 
family ; it is attached by means of cobwebs to the side 
of a rock. 
Several other species of the genus Oreotrochilus are 
described by Mr. Gould, but of these we can only notice 
two charming little birds, the Ciiimbohazian Hill- 
star (0. Chiniborazo), and the PiciiiNCiiA Hill-star 
(0. Pichincha) — the former an inhabitant of tbe high 
mountain Chimborazo, where it is found at an elevation 
of from twelve thousand to sixteen thousand feet, and 
the second at a somewhat lower altitude on Pichincha 
and Cotopaxi. Both these species are green, with the 
lower surface white, and the males have the head of a 
