HUMMINGBIRDS 
243 
In the Chisos Mountains in western Texas Mr. Bailey found the 
Lucifer hummer with several other species common in June about the 
big agaves, which were then in full flower. 
GENUS AMIZILIS. 
General Characters. — Nasal scale large and swollen, nasal slit entirely 
exposed; bill light-colored, dark-tipped, broad and flattened at base; tail 
forked or emarginate ; sexes alike. 
KEY TO ADULTS. 
1. Upper tail coverts brown.tzacatl, p. 243. 
1'. Upper tail coverts green.chalconota, p. 243. 
438. Amizilis tzacatl (De la Have). Rieffer Hummingbird. 
Adults. — Whole body dark peacock green except belly, which is brown¬ 
ish gray; wings purplish; square tail and its coverts chestnut , tail feathers 
marked with bronze. Young: similar, but rump tinged with rufous and 
forehead washed with rusty. Length : 4, wing 2.00-2.35, tail 1.45-1.70, 
exposed culmen .70-.90. 
Distribution. — From the valley of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas south 
through Central America to Ecuador. 
Nest. — Grass and plant fiber covered with green moss, often in orange, 
lemon, or lime trees, 4 or 5 feet from the ground. Eggs: 2, white. 
The Rieffer hummingbird is a Central American species apparently 
only straggling across the Mexican line in Texas. 
439. Amizilis cerviniventris chalconota ( Oberh .). Buff- 
bellied Hummingbird. 
Adults. — Upper parts mainly light bronzy green, upper tail coverts green ; 
tail forked , brown, feathers (except outer) tipped with bronzy or violet; 
throat green; rest of under parts huffy brown. Length: 4.00-4.50, wing 
2.15-2.30, tail 1.50-1.70, exposed culmen, .70-.80. 
Distribution. — From the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, south in win¬ 
ter to eastern Mexico. 
Nest. — In bushes or small trees, made of shreds of vegetable fiber, lined 
usually with thistle down ; covered with bits of blossoms, lichen, and shreds 
of bark fastened by spider web. 
“The buff-bellied hummingbird proves to be an abundant summer 
visitor, and I have nowhere found it so abundant as on the military 
reservation at Fort Brown. Here it seems perfectly at home among 
the dense tangled thickets, darting rapidly among the bushes and 
creeping vines, and is with difficulty obtained. A rather noisy bird, 
its shrill cries usually first attract one’s attention to its presence.” 
(Dr. Merrill, quoted by Bendire.) 
GENUS BASILINNA. 
440.1. Basilinna leucotis (Vieill .). White-eared Humming¬ 
bird. 
Nostrils exposed; tail emarginate, the feathers broad and rather stiff; 
tarsus densely feathered. 
