Humming-Birds

This appears be a very good and distinct species, according to the indications of Mr. Elliot, who described it from specimens collected by Mr. Clarence Buckley at Tilotilo and Apollo in Bolivia.

It is distinguished by its uniform pale brown puffs on the tarsi. Mr. Elliot observes:—

It is very close to E. aureiæ of Bourcier and Mulsant, but has the downy tufts on the tarsi uniform yellowish brown, whereas in E. aureliæ they are white, with some of them reddish or rosy at the base. There is between these two species just the same difference as exists between E. lugens and E. squamata of Gould; and these latter are generally accepted by naturalists as good species. The throat is lighter than the breast; but E. aureliæ has the throat blackish, very different in colour to that of E. assimilis. The size of the two birds is almost the same; if one can find any difference, the present species is perhaps a little smaller. I have two specimens exactly similar to each other in my collection.

The following full description is further given by Mr. Elliot in his ‘Synopsis:’—

Adult. Head, neck, and upper tail-coverts coppery red; back and wing-coverts shining green; wings purple-brown; underparts shining green with a coppery lustre, lightest on the throat; abdomen buff; under tail-coverts shining green, margined with buff; tarsal tufts pale brown; tail bronze at the base, passing to black at the tips; bill black; feet light brown. Total length 3\(\frac{3}{4}\) inches, wing 2\(\frac{1}{4}\), tail 1\(\frac{5}{8}\), culmen \(\frac{3}{4}\).

References

Eriocnemis assimilis, Elliot, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, i. p. 227 (1876); id. Synopsis of the Humming-Birds, p. 189 (1878).

Eriocnemis assimilis

References

More hummingbirds in the genus Eriocnemis

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