between members of the same species. Eugenes fulgen, attacks w ith equal ferocity j g g g g | 3 B and, animated
by no hi»h-souled generosity, scruples not to tilt with the little TrocKlu, cohhris. I know o f hardly any spec.es
that shows itself more brilliantly than this when on the w in g ; yet it is not to the midday snn that it exhibits its
splendour. When the southerly wind brings clouds and driving mist between the volcanos o f Agua mid Fuego, and
all is as in a November fog in England, except that the yellow element is wanting, then it is that Eugenes fulgent
appears in numbers; H i Detillei, instead o f a few scattered birds, is to be seen in every tree, and TsocMus
colulris in great abundance: such animation awakes in Humming-Bird life as would hardly be credited by one who
had passed the same spot an hour or two befor e; and the flying to and fro, the humming o f wings, the momentary
and prolonged contests, and the incessant battle-cries seem almost enough for a time to turn the head o f a lover o f
these things. I have fifteen males from Dueñas to one female.”—Ibis, vol. ii. p. 261.
Following the Eugenes fulgens is the softly-coloured Delattria Clemencia o f my work, the proper name o f which
is Coeligena Clemencia, it being the type o f the
Genus C c e l igen a , Less.
69. Cc e l ig e n a C l e m e n c i íe , Less.
Delattria C l e m e n c i a s ................................................................................................................................
Campylopterus Clemencia, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 154.
Trochilus lucidus, Licht. in Mus. o f Berlin.
Coeligena Clementine, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 3, pi. 687. fig. 4 5 1 6 ; Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 15.
Habitat. Mexico, where it is far from common.
The
Genus L a m p r o l /em a , Reichenb.
was instituted for the truly beautiful bird known as De Rham’s Garnet.
70. L am pr o l jEm a R h a m i . . . Vol. II. PI. 61.
Trochilus fulgidas, Licht. in Mus. o f Berlin.
Lamprolaema Rhami, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii- p. 30.
Habitat. Guatemala.
We now come to the
Genus D e l a t t r ia , Bonap.
as restricted to the D. Henrici and D. viridipallens, both o f which species are natives o f Guatemala
71. D e l a t t r ia H e n r i c i Vol. II. PI. 62.
Lamprolaima Henrici, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 9.
Heliodoxa Henrici, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 6, pi. 742. figs. 4701-3.
Habitat.—Guatemala.
7 2 . D e l a t t r ia v i r i d i p a l l e n s ...............................................................................................................................................................V o l . II . PI. 6 3 .
Habitat. Guatemala.
“ Occurs, in company with Petasophora thalassina, on the Volcan de Fuego. Seems to keep entirely to the
forests of the volcano. I have never met with it in the plains below. This is one o f the. commonest species
at Coban. I t may readily be recognized by the peculiar harshness o f its note.”— Salvin in ‘ Ibis,’ vol. ii.
p p . 4 0 , 2 6 3 .
Near to these are the members o f the
Genus H e l io p j e d ic a , Gould.
( HAtoy, sol, et iraiSixor, juvenilis.)
Generic characters.
Male.—Bill straight, and rather longer than the h ea d ; head round, or with the feathers not advancing on the
b ill; tail slightly rounded, the feathers b road; tarsi clothed; K n i to , shorter than the middle one; head and breast
luminous.
Female.—Unadorned.
This genus comprises two species, both o f which are natives of Central America, Mexico, and Southern California;
they are somewhat diminutive in size, and possess the white mark behind the eye which occurs in most of
the members o f the genera of this section o f the Trochilidse.
Vol. II. PI. 64.
73. H e l io p -e d i c a m e l a n o t i s ....................................................................................................
Trochilus leucocrotaphus, Shaw (Cabanis).
------------ cuculliger, Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Thier. v. Deppe & Schiede CSept. 1830), no. 2 9 ,31.
Trochilus leucotis, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 144.
Hylocharis leucotis, Gray & Mitch. Gen. o f Birds, vol. i. p. 114, Hylochans, sp. 28.
Heliopedica melanotis, Sclat. & Salv. Ibis, vol. i. p. 130.
Basilinna leucotis, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 45.
Trochilus lucidus, Shaw ? Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 327.
Mellisuqa lucida, Steph. Cont. o f Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. xiv. p. 247.
Sapphironia latida, Sallé, Liste des Oiseaux; Sclat. Proc. Zool. Soc. part xxvi. p. 297, and part xxvn. p. 386.
Habitat. Guatemala and Mexico.
I observe that specimens from Guatemala are much smaller than those from Mexico; but as the colouring and
disposition of the markings are precisely similar, I regard them as races only.
M Sallé in his ‘ List o f the Birds of Mexico,' has assigned to one of them the name of hunda, o f Shaw, believing
it to be an earlier name for this bird than melanotis or Arsenni. This list.has been followed b , Dr. Sclater in
his papers on the birds received by M. Sallé from and collected by M. Boucard in Oaxaca; but as Shaw's description
o f lucidus, as well as the country , in which it is said to be found (Paraguay), does not accord with that of
melanotis, that name must sink into a synonym.
“ In some o f the open savannahs scattered among the oak-forests o f the Volcan de Fuego near Calderas, this
species is not uncommon; I have also frequently met with it in some o f the I barrancos ’ o f the same volcano The
white mark running from the eye and the deep coral-red o f the bill show conspicuously m the living bird. I t is a
very shy species. A single specimen was shot near Coban, and another was brought to me from the mountains of
S. Cruz, near San Gerónimo.”—Salvin in Ibis, vol. ii. p. 271.
v ...............................................................................................................................................Vol. II. PI. 65.
74. H e l io p jEDICa X a n t u s i
Habitat. Southern California.
I f I have extofled the members of the genus Cometes as being among the most gorgeous birds in existence with
regard to the colouring o f their tails, in like manner I may pronounce the Topaz*, which now claim onr notice, to
be as remarkable for their lustrous throat-marks.
One o f these beautiful birds, the Topaza Pella, is an inhabitant o f Cayenne and the adjacent countries; while
another, the T. P yra, flies in the forests o f the Upper Rio Negro.
Genus T o pa z a , G. R . Gray.
Vol. II. PI. 66.
75. T o p a z a P e l l a .....................................................................................................................
Trochilus paradíseos, Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. i. p. 189.
¡ampomis pella, Jard. N at. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 155.
Habitat, Cayenne and the adjacent countries.
I find that specimens from Demerara have more richly-coloured throat-marks than thoseprocured g Cayenne;
there is also another variety distinguished by the great breadth o f their lengthened tail-feathers; but these differ-
enees are not o f specific importance.
Vol. II. PI. 67.
76. T o p a z a P y r a ..............................................................................................................................................
Habitat. The Upper Rio Negro.
I t is only at a comparatively recent date that we became acquainted with the birds for which I proposed the