Generic characters.
Male.— Bill rather short, depressed at the base, and straight; wings long and powerful; primaries, particularly the outer one, sickle-shaped; tail moderately large, and slightly forked when closed; tarsi partially clothed; feet strong and powerful; hind toe and nail longer than the middle toe and nail; breast ornamented with a tuft of lengthened plumes; back luminous when viewed from behind.
The birds for which I instituted the above genus have always greatly interested me. They are of large size, have very ample wings, and are distinguished from all other Humming-Birds by their luminous backs, of which the rich and glittering hues are only perceptible when viewed from behind, or reversely to the direction of the feathers— contrary to the law which regulates the disposition of the colouring in all the other genera, except in Celigena, where it is slightly apparent. All the species are natives of the Andes, over which they roam from the northern part of New Granada to Bolivia. The latter country is the cradle of the Aglæactis Castelnaudi and the richly coloured A. Pamela. These extraordinary birds, to which I have given the trivial name of Sunbeams, are among the most wonderful of the Trochilidæ.
Aglæctis cupripennis
Habitat: New Granada
Plate 179 Aglæctis cupripennis Shining Sun-beamProfessor Jameson and Mr. Fraser state that “The females of this species have the glittering back, but not so brilliant as in the males.”—Ibis, vol. i. p. 400.
Aglæctis Æquatorialis
Habitat: Ecuador
No illustrations
This bird is considered distinct from H. cupripennis by Dr. Cabanis; but the only difference I can perceive between this and Bogota specimens is in its larger size and longer wing; but if this be admitted as a species, I must further increase the list by calling another parvula, of which I have two specimens shot by M. Warszewicz in Peru or Bolivia; for the precise locality is unknown to me.
Aglæactis parvula (Gould)
Habitat: Peru, or Bolivia
No illustrations
This bird has a much shorter bill, is of a deeper red on the under-surface, more red in the tail, and altogether of much smaller size.
Total length 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches; bill \(\frac{11}{16}\); wing 3; tail 1\(\frac{3}{4}\).
Aglæactis caumatonota (Gould)
Habitat: Peru, or Bolivia
No illustrations
Described by me as above from a single specimen said to have been procured in Peru, which differs from the preceding in being of smaller size and in the darker hue of the luminous portion of the back.
Aglæactis Castelnaudi
Habitat: The mountains near Cusco in Peru
Plate 180 Aglæactis Castelnaudi Castelnau’s SunbeamM. Deville says, “This bird, which is very rare, confines itself to the blossoms of a species of Mimosa, the odours of which attract the small insects which form its food. Its cry is very piercing; its flight very rapid and noisy. The species, which is quite new, was killed by myself in the valley of Echaraté, near Cusco.”
Aglæactis Pamela
Habitat: Bolivia
Plate 181 Aglæactis Pamela Pamela’s Sun-beamFeaturing all 422 illustrated species from John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds arranged by color.