Perhaps the very commonest of the frill-necked Humming-Birds is the C. amethystina. It is more widely spread than many other species, since it inhabits all the countries from Brazil to Venezuela.
In this genus I have also placed the C. Mitchelli; but I have some doubt as to the propriety of sodoing. The throats of the two birds, although beautifully coloured, are not luminous.
Calliphlox amethystina
Habitat: Brazil, Demerara, Cayenne, and Trinidad
Plate 159
Calliphlox amethystina
The Amethyst
Whether the Ornismya orthura of Lesson be a species or an old female of C. amethystina requires further investigation. Wherever the C. amethystina is found in Brazil, Trinidad, or Demerara, the O. orthura is found in its company—a fact which militates against its being a distinct species.
Calliphlox amethystoïdes (Less.)
Habitat: Minas Geraes in Brazil
No illustrations
In my account of C. amethystina I have regarded this species as identical with that bird; but M. Bourcier is still of opinion that it is distinct; and as I find that it is of smaller size, and the tint of the gorget is somewhat different, I defer to his opinion. It will not, however, be necessary to give a separate figure of it. Specimens from Minas Geraes are certainly more diminutive than from elsewhere.
Calliphlox? Mitchelli
Habitat: Southern parts of New Granada and Ecuador
Plate 160
Calliphlox Mitchelli
Mitchell’s Amethyst
Featuring all 422 illustrated species from John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds arranged by color.
Humming-Birds