HELIOTHRIX PHAINOL^MA , Gould.
Green-throated Fairy.
Helioth'ix phainoliema, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxiii. p. 87.
T his is one of the most beautiful, and certainly the rarest species of the genus Heliothrico, a group
distinguished by the wedge-shaped form of their bill, their lengthened wings, small feet, and delicate style
of colouring. Its nearest ally is the H. auriculatiis, from which, however, it is distinguished by the whole
of the throat being of a resplendent metallic green. The localities inhabited by the two birds are widely
different, the H. auriculatus being found in Southern Brazil, while the H. phainolama frequents the distant
country of the Upper Rio Negro, the district in which the splendid Topaza pyra is also found, together with
many other fine species of which at present but little is known, owing to the difficulty of access to this terra
incognita.
The male has the head, upper surface, upper tail-coverts, upper and under wiug-coverts rich golden
green, very brilliant on the head; wings purplish black; four central tail-feathers bluish black; latera toil-
L h e r s snowy white; below and behind the eye a lengthened mark of black terminating
tu ft; chin, throat, and sides of the neck rich luminous green ; breast and under surface pure white, bill
H M H — but wants the blue ear-tufts and green neck-stripe the absence of which
c a le s the black e a rL e r ts to show very conspicuously; a purplish band crosses the lateral tail-feathers
" V e Z u Z r e of the natural size. The plant is a variety of the TillaMa Mosa.