HUMMINGBIRDS 
239 
feather between the rufous and black, the fourth feather green but 
marked with a terminal or subterminal spot of black, and edged with 
rufous, tip often white. Male : length 4.00-4.25, wing 1.92- 
2.05, tail 1.40-1.60, bill .62-.70. Female : length 4.10-4.70, 
wing 2.00-2.10, tail 1.45-1.50, bill .70-.72. 
liemarks. —The females of platycercus and rufus must be 
carefully discriminated. In platycercus the middle tail feath¬ 
ers are wholly green, in rufus brown at base ; in platycercus 
the rufous of the outer feathers is basal and of less extent 
than the black; in rufus the rufous equals or exceeds the black; in 
platycercus the next to the middle feather is mainly green, in rufus the 
rufous covers as much ground as the green, black, and white all together ; 
in platycercus the outer feather is .25 broad, in rufus .12 broad. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones of the Rocky 
Mountain district from Idaho and Wyoming to mountains of Arizona and 
New Mexico ; west to the Sierra Nevada ; migrates to Guatemala ; recorded 
from Oakland. 
Nest. — Usually within 15 feet of the ground on branches of trees, 
often overhanging a mountain stream, made of willow or cottonwood down 
covered with lichen alone, or lichen, bark, leaves, and plant fibers. Eggs: 
2 , white. 
Food. — Insects found on flowers of Castilleia , Fouqueria, Gilia , Agave, 
and others. 
Major Bendire says that the broad-tailed hummingbirds breed in 
the lower foothills and valleys on their first arrival from the south, 
but by the time the young are able to fly the flowers have ceased 
blooming and the country is getting so dry that they go to the moun¬ 
tain parks to raise their second broods. 
At 9000 feet in the Sacramento Mountains we found the birds 
abundant the last of May feeding from the gooseberry bushes. 
The noise they made in buzzing about the bushes and flying through 
the air was a metallic rattle strikingly different from the noise made 
by rufus, colubris, alexandri, or any other hummingbird I had ever 
heard. In addition to a squeaky little song the hummers had some 
small staccato notes. 
When camped at Little Spring, San Francisco Mountain, Dr. Mer- 
riam found platycercus very abundant. They came to the spring to 
drink and bathe at daylight. He says: “ They were like a swarm 
of bees, buzzing about one’s head and darting to and fro in every 
direction. The air was full of them. They would drop down to 
the water, dip their feet and bellies, and rise and shoot away as if 
propelled by an unseen power.” 
433. Selasphorus rufus ( Gmel .). Rufous Hummingbird. 
Adult male. — Gorget fire red, orange, and brassy green ; general body 
color bright reddish brown , glossed with bronzy green on crown and some¬ 
times back, and fading to white next to gorget and on belly ; tail feathers 
rufous, with dark mesial streaks; middle tail feather broad, pointed at 
tip, second from middle deeply notched on inner web, sinuated on outer web. 
Fig. 314. 
