J. GoiMandU C Richier, ¿J. ¿t Uth. FHAETHORNIS CEPHAJLUS.
PHAÉTHORNIS CEPHALUS.
Mexican Hermit.
T ro ch ilu s c e p h a lu s, Bourc. e t Muls. Rev . Zool. 1 8 4 8 , p. 2 6 9 .— Gray and Mitch. Gen. o f Birds,
vol. iii. Supp. App. 3 0 a ., App. to voL i. p. 1 03.
--------------lo n g iro s tr is , D e Latt. E ch o du Monde Savant, June 1 5 , 1 8 4 3 , N o . 4 5 . col. 1 0 7 0 ?
P h c e tom is ce p h a lu s, Bonap. Rev . e t Mag. de Zool. 1 8 5 4 , p. 2 4 9 .
P t y o n o m k c e p h a lu s, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 14.
T h e occurrence o f this bird in Veragua, Guatemala and Mexico proves that the larger Phaethorni are not
confined to the countries south o f the Isthmus, but, like many other forms, are represented in Central
America by species peculiar to that part o f the continent.
The Phaéthornis cephalus was first brought to this country by M. Sallé, the celebrated French traveller
and collector; the single specimen he first procured, and from which M. Bourcier took his description, was
for a long time the only one known; it is now in my own collection. This example bears a label purporting
that it was killed by M. Sallé on the “ Riviere San Juan de Nicaragua.” Besides this original specimen, I
possess others which were transmitted to me direct from Guatemala by George U. Skinner, Esq., and have
more recently acquired others which were collected by M. Sallé near, I believe, Cordova in Southern Mexico.
I observe that some variation exists in the colouring o f the tips of the outer tail-feathers, attributable, I
believe, to a difference in the age o f the individuals. In the original or typical specimen, the tips of all the
tail-feathers, except those o f the two middle ones, are o f a uniform buff, while in others this huffy colouring
occupies only the inner margins o f the feathers, the outer margins being white, and in others again both
margins are white. In size the P . cephalus nearly equals the P . superciliosus, but it differs from that species
in having a shorter and more curved bill and a shorter and more rounded ta il; the four external feathers
on each side being individually less acutely pointed; the crown o f the head in P . cephalus is also darker, the
rump-feathers more huffy, and the colouring o f the under surface of a lighter or more uniform buff than in
P . superciliosus.
It has been considered probable by one or two ornithological friends that a bird described by M. De Lattre
in the “ Echo du Monde Savaut” for June 1843, under the name o f Trochilus longirostris, may be identical
with the present species, in which case his name would have the priority; but it could scarcely be retained
with propriety, that appellation having been bestowed upon another member o f the family.
Head greyish brown; upper surface and wing-coverts bronzy brown; lower part o f the back and upper
tail-coverts buff, barred with blackish brown ; wings purplish brown ; lores and ear-coverts blackish brown,
bounded above and below by stripes o f bufly white; under surface light greyish buff; down the centre of
the throat a line o f pure buff, bounded on either side by a clouding of g r ey ; all the tail-feathers bronzy
green at the base, passing into brownish black, the lateral feathers with an arrow-head-shaped mark o f buff at
the t ip ; the apical or lengthened portion o f the two middle feathers white, gradually blending with the dark
hue o f their middle portion; upper mandible black ; basal three-fourths o f the under mandible fleshy, the
tip black.
The figures are the size o f life. The plant is the Brassavola lineata.