HELIANTHEA OSCULANS, Gould.
Buff-tailed Star-frontlet.
Helianthea osculans, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1 8 7 1 , p. 5 0 3 .— Sclater & Salvin, Nomencl.
Av. Neo tr. p. 8 9 (1 8 7 3 )SW h it e ly , Proc. Zool. Soc. 1 8 7 3 , p. 1 9 1 , 1 8 7 4 ,
p. 6 7 7 .— Ellio t, Ibis, 1 8 7 4 , p. 3 3 4 .— Id. Synopsis o f th e Humming-Birds,
p. 7 3 (1 8 7 8 ).— Tacz. Orn. du Pérou, i. p. 3 7 6 (1884).
Calligenia osculans, Mulsant, Hist. N a t. Oiseaux-Mouches, ii. p. 3 0 0 (1876).
Mr. W hitely collected this bird at Cachuapata and Huasampilla in Peru, and at present lie appears to be
the only naturalist who has met with the species.
It is o f about the same size as H. violifera, but differs from that bird in having a stouter and longer bill,
by the spot on the forehead being larger, and green instead of blue, by the tips of the tail-coverts and
tail-feathers being tinged with olive-green, and by the breast being of a more brilliant green, and destitute
of any crescentic greyish-white mark across the chest.
Male. Crown of the head, viewed anteriorly, black, with a spot of brilliant green on the forehead, as in
H. bonapartei; back and upper tail-coverts bronzy green; shoulders golden brown; primaries purplish
black, the exterior web of the first buff; throat and breast brilliant green, with a patch of an equally
brilliant blue in the centre of the former; abdomen buff, tinged and mottled with green ; thighs huffy
white; under tail-coverts light buff; tail-feathers deep buff, tiuged with green at the tip, especially the
two centre ones ; bill black. Total length 51 inches, bill p § wing 3 i tail 2 i, tarsi §.
Mr. Elliot says that the female differs in having no frontal or gular spot. The throat is buff, spotted
with green; otherwise it resembles the male.
The Plate represents an adult male in two positions, drawn from the original specimen.