132 
U S. P. E. R EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT 
tail feather exceeds the shortest by about .21 of an inch. The innermost tail feather is 
very broad; a little longer than the lower coverts. 
In the female the tail feathers are still more curved, and considerably broader, and more 
rounded at the end, but still decidedly lanceolate, not linear. The tail, instead of being deeply 
forked, is only slightly emarginated ; the outer feather rather shorter than the second. The 
greatest width of the outer feather is about .26 of an inch. 
In the male the entire upper parts, (including the crown,) with the sides of the body along 
the wings, are of a rich metallic green. The metallic scale-like feathers of the chin and throat 
are of a bright ruby red. These extend from the base of the bill (where the color is quite dull) 
over the throat, the posterior lateral ones not projecting more than .15 of an inch behind the 
middle ones. Immediately posterior to the metallic gorget is a collar of dirty white, which is 
continued along the median line, where it is tinged with brown, to the tail coverts, the centres 
of which show a little metallic green, and the exterior a little pale rufous. There is a rather 
purer white around the legs, and a very indistinct spot of the same just behind the eye. The 
tail feathers are uniform brownish purple ; the wings are similar, with less purple. 
The adult female is similar to the male in the colors of the back and wings, with the white 
spot behind the eye. The entire under parts are of a dirty white, tinged with brownish on the 
throat and sides. The outer three tail feathers on either side have their central third of a 
purplish black ; the terminal portion white. The fourth feather is black at the end, with a 
very slight white tip. In all, the basal half of the upper surface (and of the lower in the 
fourth) is green like the back. The innermost has an indistinct subterminal bar of blackish. 
There is no rufous on any part of the tail feathers in either male or female. 
The young male is like the female beneath, except that the throat feathers are spotted in the 
centre, and some show a trace of the metallic red. The tail is mostly like the male. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
No. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig. 
No. 
Collected by— 
Length. 
Stretch 
of wings. 
Wing. 
997 
1168 
1296 
1100 
2713 
1297 
1101 
6968 
5040 
3962 
3963 
5041 
7985 
9 
° 8 
8 
8 
8 
9 
9 
8 
3 
Carlisle, Pa_ -. 
_do_ _ _ 
May 20, 1843 
Aug. —, 1843 
1843. 
S. F. Baird. 
_.do_ 
3.75 
3. 67 
4. 33 
4. 25 
1. 83 
1.67 
Washington 
J. K. Townsend. 
_ _ ._do_........ 
1843 . 
_do_ 
1843. 
_do___ 
1343. 
......do_ 
1843. 
Salt creek, K. T_ 
Indianola. .......... 
May 25, 1857 
Feb. 1?, 1855 
Lieut. Bryan_ 
Capt. Pope_ 
104 
W. S. Wood .. 
Brownsville, Texas. .. 
Lieut Couch .... 
Santa Catarina, Mex.. 
_do___ 
179 
9 
Devil’s river, Texas.. 
May 1, 1855 
Capt. Pope__ 
J. Gould_ 
