1
a» my experience enables me. To do this effectively it will be necessary to replace some o f the -p .™ . ¡n the
genera from which they have been separated, and to propose a further subdivision o f the remainder. In so doing
it must not be understood that I am desirous o f increasing the number o f genera; I merely w ish to indicate by a
distinctive appellation the sections Into which the birds appear to be naturally divided. To particularize the provinces
o f South America over which the members o f the various genera are distributed would be useless • for their
dispersion may be said to be general, as they are found from Mexico to Bolivia on the western coast,’and from
Brazd to Venezuela on the eastern; few o f the species, however, go very fhr either north or south, and still fewer
are found in the West India Islands. The members o f the genus Amazilia, as restricted, are all o f somewhat large
size, and are easily recognized, each o f them having well-marked characters. There is but little differiSce in the
outward appearance o f the sexes. The equatorial regions o f the Andes are their head-quarters ■ and it is there
that we find the A. pristma, the A. alticola, the A. Dumerili, and the A. Imcophaa. These four species, I
form a very natural section. 5 ’
Genus A m a z il ia , Reichenb.
338. A m a z il ia p r i s t in a
BM W W W ...........................................................................................................Vol. V. PI. 303.
Phaethornis Amazili, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 152.
Pyrrhophaena Amazilia, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 3 5 .
Habitat. The neighbourhood o f Lima in Peru.
339. A m a z il ia a l t ic o l a , G o u ld ........................................... ^ ^
Habitat. The high lands o f Central Peru; the precise locality uncertain.
340. A m a z il ia D u m e r il i .
Pyrrhophaena Dumerili, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p 36. note.
Habitat. Ecuador, on the coast in the neighbourhood o f Guayaquil, and on the Isle o f Puna. Found also at
Babahoyo by Mr. Fraser, who states that the bill is red with a black tip.
341. A m a z i l ia l eu co phxE a , Reichenb.....................................
Pyrrhophama leucophaea, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii p. 3 5 . -V . PI. 306.
Habitat. Southern Pern. Collected in the vicinity o f the Volcano o f Arequipa by M. Waiszewicz.
I retain Dr. Cabanis’s generic term Pyrrbophama for the ten succeeding species
Genus P y r r h o ph a e n a , Cab.
3 4 2 . P y r r h o p h iEn a c in n a m o m e a .
Amazilia corallirostris
Omismya cinnamomea, Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, p . 175 • • • • ol. V. PI. 307.
Ornismya rutila, Delatt. I/Echo du Monde Savant, No. 4 5 , Join 15, 1843, col. 1069
Pyrrhophaena coralhrostris, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 3 5 , note.
Habitat. Central America.
“ This species,” says Mr. Salvin, “ seems to be an inhabitant o f the h ot sea-bord only, and does not extend its
vertical range to a greater elevation than 2000 feet. In such regions on the Pacific coast t is very abund“
■ ■ ■ H MM S°me M ato°St I f l village numbers m a y T e s l
flitting about the blossoms o f the orange and lime trees. Its horizontal ram?e annpar« tn f • ,
s ^ t o in c lu d e th e w h o le o f the southern portion of
“ It is common about San Gerdnimo; but seems not to be found in the colder and more elevated portions of
— a " f / 1 Due5as n0rC° b“ - ‘wo young and the hen bird was b r o ^ h t to me
as the feithers are i M M ' j i M | B | M *“ | | % I *
, , , , . sexes are a l i k e . A difference, however, exists in the bill,—that o f the male havinv
much more o f f t . bnlhant colour from which the species takes its name, in the upper mandible. In t t e y ^ 2
the upper mandible is black.”—Ibis, vol. ii. pp. 268, 269.
343. P y r r h o p h a e n a Y u c a t a n e n s i s .
Amazilia Yucatanensis
Habitat. Yucatan. Vol. V. PI. 308.
344. P y r r h o p h a e n a c e r v i n i v e n t r i s , Gould.
Amazilia cerviniventris, Gould . y 0j y pj qqq
Pyrrhophaena cerviniventris, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 36, note.
Habitat. Mexico. In the neighbourhood o f Cordova, according to M. Sallé.
345. P y r r h o p h j e n a c a s t a n e i v e n t r i s .
Amazilia castaneiventris, G o u l d .................................................... Vol. V. PI 310
Habitat. New Granada.
346. P y r r h o p h a e n a R i e f p e r i .
Amazilia Riefferi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . y 0i. y p i gS?
Omismya amazili, Delatt. Echo du Monde Savant, No. 45, Juin 15, 1843, col. 1069.
Trochilus arsinoides, Sauc. in Mus. o f Berlin.
Pyrrhophaena Riefferi, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 36.
--------------------Dubusi, Cab. et Hein. ib. p. 36.
suavis, Cab. et Hein. ib. p. 36, note.
Habitat. Southern Mexico, Guatemala, and along the Andes to Ecuador.
Nearly thirty specimens are now before me from these various countries, among them M. Bourcier’s type
specimen o f his Trochilus Dubusi, also specimens collected by Warszewicz in Costa Rica; and I see nothing to
induce a belief that there is any specific difference between those found in Mexico, Guayaquil in Ecuador, or in
any o f the intermediate countries. I admit that differences occur both in size and in the fringing o f the outer tail-
feathers : generally speaking, they are darker in the Costa Rican and New Granadian specimens; but I have some
quite as bronzy from those countries as the generality o f specimens found in Honduras and Guatemala. These
latter are the birds to which the term Dubusi has been applied.
347. P y r r h o p h a e n a b e r y l l i n a .
Amazilia beryllina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. V. PI. 3 1 2 .
Habitat. Southern Mexico. M Botta found it at Orizaba, and M. Salle at Cordova.
348. P y r r h o p h a e n a D e v i l l e i .
Amazilia Devillei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. V. PI. 313.
Saucerottia maria, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 255 ?
Chlorestes Mariae, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 4, pi. 695. fig. 4549.
Panychlora Mariae, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 49, note.
Amazilia Dumerili, Salv. Ibis, vol. ii. p. 270.
Habitat. Guatemala.
Speaking o f this species, which by some inadvertence he has called A. Dumerili instead o f A. Devillei, Mr. Salvin
says, “ During the months o f July, August, and September, one o f its most favourite resorts was the western
boundary o f the Llano o f Duenas, which, starting from the village and bounded to the eastward by the river
Guacalate, extends, sweeping by the Volcan de Fuego, almost to the Hacienda o f Capertillo, its southern extremity.
Dispersed all over this plain is found, in groves, patches, and isolated trees, a Tree Convolvulus, bearing a white
flower, and attaining an average height o f about 25 or 30 feet. During the above months this elegant species might
be seen in almost every tree, some feeding among the flowers, some settled quietly on a dead branch, uttering their
low, plaintive, hardly to be called musical, y et certainly cheering song, others less peacefully occupied in a war of
expulsion, driving out by vehement cries and more effectual blows the tenant o f a tree, which in its turn wreaks
vengeance on some weaker or unexpectant antagonist.”—Ibis, vol. ii. p. 270.
349. P y r r h o p h a e n a v i r i d ig a s t e r .
Amazilia v i r i d i g a s t e r ....................................................................................................................................... Vol. V. PI. 314.
Chlorestes viridiventris, Reichenb. Troch. Enum. p. 4, pi. 699. figs. 4564-65.
Hemithylaca viridiventris, Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 38.
Habitat. New Granada. Common in the neighbourhood o f Bogota.
350. P y r r h o p h a e n a io d u r a .
Trochilus iodurus, Sauc. in Mus. Hein.
Saucerottia iodura, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 8.