ERIOCNEMIS AURELIÆ.
Aurelia’s Puff-leg.
Trochilus Aurelioe, Bourc. e t Muls. Ann. de la Soc. des Sci. &c. de Lyon, 1846, p. 315, pi. not
numbered.— lb . Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 316.
Hylochai'is Aurelia, Gray an d Mitch. Gen. o f Birds, vol. i. p. 114, Hylocharis, sp. 8.
Eriopus aureliae, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 80, Eriopus, sp. 8.
Ei'iocnemys aurelia, lb . Rev. e t Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 252.
Eriocnemis Aureliae, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 9.
By far the greater number of the species of this well-defined genus have the puff-like feathers clothing the
legs of a snowy whiteness ; in one, however, the E . Derbyanus, they are black; and in the bird now under
consideration they are parti-coloured, or brown and white.
I have seen examples of this species from various parts of the hilly districts of Columbia, over which
country it appears to enjoy a wide range, and where it has been killed by M.Warszewicz and other collectors.
Specimens from the neighbourhood of the River Napo have longer bills, and are altogether larger birds
than those from Bogota; so great a similarity, however, otherwise exists between them, that, for the present,
I shall consider them as merely distinct races or local varieties of one and the same species.
The Eriocnemis Aurelia was first described by MM. Bourcier and Mulsant, from Bogota specimens, and
I also figure a bird from the same district. These gentlemen state that they have named it Aurelia in
honour of the wife of M. Henon, Secretary-General of the Society of Agriculture, and one of the most
distinguished naturalists of the City of Lyons.
But little difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes ; the female, however, has the puff-like feathers
of the legs of a smaller size, and whiter or less parti-coloured than those of the male; and the young has
the lower part of the abdomen white.
Head, upper surface and wing-coverts dark bronzy-green, the green hue predominating on the centre
of the back, and a tinge of rufous on the head; wings purplish-brown; upper tail-coverts dark coppery-
bronze ; tail dark bluish-black, with a bronzy lustre at the base; under surface bronzy-green, very dark on
the throat, and becoming gradually paler towards the vent, where the feathers are fringed with white;
feathers of the thighs pale chestnut and white; under tail-coverts grass-green ; hill brown, paler at the base
of the under mandible.
The young bird of the first year has the head and neck coppery-bronze; upper surface green; throat
violaceous-brown ; lower part of the abdomen white; and the under tail-coverts grey, with a trace only of
the green of the adult state.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Marsdenia maculata.