Mr. D. G. Elliot on the Trochilidse. 
395 
but has never to my knowledge been met with east of the 
Andes. No other species of the genus; beside H. barroti, 
is found in Central America. In South America the coun¬ 
tries of Guiana, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and 
Northern Brazil possess H. auritus, which is the most widely 
distributed species of the genus. H. auriculatus is app- 
rently confined to Southern Brazil; but how far it extends its 
range to the northward is not yet definitely ascertained. 
The three species comprising the genus Heliothrix , accord¬ 
ing to this paper, can easily be distinguished from each other, 
and they constitute two natural groups, as follows :— 
A. Head metallic green. 
a. Throat white. II. auritus. 
b. Throat metallic green ..... II. auriculatus. 
B. Head metallic purple, throat white . II. barroti. 
Heliothrix auritus. 
Trochilus auritus , Gmel. Syst. Nat. (1788) vol. i. p. 493, 
sp. 47. 
Heliothrix auritus , Gould, Mon. Troch. vol. iv. pi. 213 ; id. 
Intr. Troch. (8vo ed.) p. 121. sp. 238. 
Heliothrix longirostris, Gould, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 124. 
Hab. Northern Brazil, Guiana, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecua¬ 
dor, Peru. 
Gmelin described this species as above cited; and it was 
the only one belonging to this genus known to the older 
authors. It has not received many synonyms, the principal 
one being that bestowed by Lesson upon the female, which 
he called Ornismya nigrotis (Ind. Gen. et Syn. Ois. du Gen. 
Trochilus, p. 20. sp. 48). As will be seen, the range of this 
species is very extensive; and it is found from Brazil over the 
northern part of South America, southward to Peru on the 
east coast. Specimens from Ecuador were described by Mr. 
Gould, in the f Proceedings 9 of the Zoological Society of 
London for 1862, as distinct, under the name of H. longi¬ 
rostris, characterized as differing from II. auritus in its “ larger 
size, longer bill, and the crown devoid of the glittering hue 
seen in H. auritus; at the same time it is somewhat brighter 
than the back.” A specimen in my collection, obtained from 
Mr. Gould, represents this form, I have carefully compared 
