New York, has made us acquainted with a second species in his lolxma frontalis. Both these hirds mhabit the
eastern slopes o f the Andes o f Ecuador and forests bordering the River Napo.
.....................................................V ol. II . PI. 92.
1 0 6 . IoiuEMA FRONTALIS, .......................................................................................................
Habitat. The head-waters o f the Napo.
I T e 107. IoLiEMA H R ......................................................Vol. II. PI. 93. S C H R E I B E R S l ................................................................
Habitat. The forests bordering the Upper Rio Negro and the Napo.
The species composing the Andean genera to which the names o f Heliodoxa and leaibeatera have been given,
are aU truly beautiful hirds. They are o f large size, and have certain parts o f their plnmage more than usually resplendent,—
so much so, indeed, that no bird has y e t been found which eqnals them in this respect. From Venezuela
and New Granada on the north to Bolivia in the south, the various members o f these genera find a congenial
habitat.
Genus H e l io d o x a , Gould.
('Háío?, sol, et 8o£a, gloria.)
Generic characters.
Male. B ill longer than the head, straight and cylindrical; wings long and pointed; tail ample and forked;
tarsi clothed; fe e t small; hind toe shorter than the middle o n e ; nails feeble; centre o f the throat blue, surrounded
by brilliant green.
Female.—Unadorned.
1 0 8 . H e l io d o x a j a c u l a , G o u l d ...................................................................................................................................................Vol. II. PI. 94.
Coeligena jacula, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 4, pi. 688. fig. 4522.
Heliodoxa jacula, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p . 22.
Habitat. New Granada.
1 0 9 . H e l io d o x a J a m e s o n i .........................................................................................................................................................................................................9 5 -
Habitat. Ecuador.
Hitherto I have entertained the opinion that the H. jacula and the Leadbeatera grata were o f the same form;
but upon further consideration I now believe them to be d istin ct; and as the former is the type o f my genus Heliodoxa,
I retain that o f Leadbeatera for the other.
Genus L e a d b e a t e r a , Bonap.
Of this form I possess three very distinct birds, which might be considered by some persons as one and the
same, but in this opinion I cannot agre e: the L. Otero from Bolivia, and the L. grata are too unlike to be considered
otherwise than as separate sp ecies; while the third, which is from Venezuela, is allied to the Bolivian bird rather
than to that from New Granada.
1 1 0 . L e a d b e a t e r a O t e r o .
Heliodoxa Otero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V o lI I . PI. 96.
Coeligena Otero, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 3, pi. 6 8 9 .fig s.4523-24.
Heliodoxa Otero, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 22, note.
Leadbeatera sagitta, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p . 7.
Coeligena sagitta, Reichenb. ib. p. 2 3 ; Id. Troch. Enum. p. 4 , pi. 689. fig. 4525, and pi. 690. figs. 4527-28.
Heliodoxa sagitta, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 22.
Habitat. Peru and Bolivia.
1 1 1 . L e a d b e a t e r a s p l e n d e n s , Gould.
Centre o f the crown brilliant blue, bordered on each side with jet-black ; upper surface bronzy g r e en ; wings
purplish brown; two centre tail-feathers bronzy, the remainder b la ck ; under-surface glittering gre en ; under tail-
coverts olive-grey; bill black; feet dark brown.
Total length, 5£ inche s; bill I -V ; wing 2$-; tail ; tarsi
Habitat. Venezuela.
This species is very nearly allied to the Leadbeatera Otero, but it differs in having a straighter and shorter bill,
and in the green tint o f the under-surface.
1 1 2 . L e a d b e a t e r a g r a t a .
Heliodoxa Leadbeateri . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. II. PI. 97.
Habitat. The hilly parts o f New Granada.
It matters not where we place the single species o f the genus Aithurus (Trochilus Polytmus in the body of the
work), since it offers no direct alliance to any one group. It is perhaps the most singular and most aberrant of
Humming-Birds: for it departs from all the rest in the form o f its wings, the second quill-feather being the longest,
while in all the others the first exceeds the rest in len g th : how different also are its other characters! for instance,
the tail is not forked in the usual way, the second feather being lengthened into flowing plumes, which apparently
tend more to add to its graceful appearance than to facilitate its aerial evolutions. The young males do not possess
this peculiarly formed ta il; and the females are so unlike both, that we should not have even suspected their alliance,
had we not positive evidence o f it. This very isolated form is a native o f Jamaica, and there alone is it found.
That so large a bird and so very marked a form should be confined to such a limited area is very surprising.
Genus A i t h u r u s , Cab.
113. A i t h u r u s P o l y tm u s .
Trochilus Polytmus Vol. II. PI. 98.
Cynanthus polytmus, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 145.
Polytmus cepkalatra, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. tom. i. p. 72, Polytmus, sp. 1.
------------ Ib. sp. 2 .; Trochilus stellatus, “ Gosse,” young male ?
Trochilus Maria, Hill, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vol. iii. p. 258,1849; Gosse, 111. Birds o f Jamaica, pi. 22.
Polytmus viridans, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 11; Id. Troch. Enum. p. 9, pi. 799. figs. 4858- 60.
Aithurus polytmus, Cab. et. Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 50.
Habitat. Jamaica.
It will be seen that I have placed the Trochilus stellatus o f Gosse as a synonym o f Aithurus Polytmus; at the same
time it is only justice to state that I have never seen a second specimen in a similar state o f plumage, and it may be
another species. I make this remark with Mr. Gosse’s type specimen before me, it having been kindly presented
to me by that gentleman.
Genus T h a l u r a n ia , Gould.
(QáXÁcú, vireo, et ovpavios, coelestis.)
I f all genera were as well defined as that o f Thalurania, the ornithologist would be far less perplexed than he
frequently is with regard to the position o f the species o f which they are composed. All the members o f this
extensive group are characterized by great elegance o f contour, the bill, wings, and tail being well proportioned,
and in harmony with the size o f the body; green and blue are the prevailing hues o f the under-surface, while the
crown and throat, and sometimes the shoulders, are ornamented with blue. The females are less elegant in form,
and not so beautifully attired, all those parts which are green and blue in the males being, in every instance, I
believe, o f a dull grey.
The extent of country ranged over by the members o f this group is very great: one, and one only, has been
found to the north of Panama; the remainder inhabit all the countries southward to the latitude o f Rio de Janeiro.
114. T h a l u r a n ia g l a u c o p i s Vol. II. PI. 99.
Cynanthus glaucopis, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 147.
Glaucopis frontalis, Burm. Th. Bras. tom. ii. p. 333.
Thalurania glaucopis, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 23.
Habitat. South-eastern Brazil.
115. T h a l u r a n ia W a t e r t o n i i f f
Habitat. British Guiana; and Northern Brazil?
116. T h a l u r a n ia f u r c a t a .................................................................................................................................................................................W -
Cynanthus furcatus, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii.p. 148.
Thalurania Gyrinno, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 7.
Coeligena Gyrinno, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 3, pi. 682. figs. 4500-1.
Thalurania furcata, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 24.
iff» r i l l I K E í m S P » ! ? i f 1