29 December 1999 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON I I2<4):804-B12. 1999. Taxonomic notes on hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) 2. Popelairia letitiae (Bourcier & Mulsant, 1852) is a valid

Gary R. Graves Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. D.C. 20560. U.S.A.

Abstract.—Popelairia letitiae (Bourcier & Mulsant. 1852), known from two specimens supposedly from Bolivia, appears to be a valid species. Analysis of plumage color and morphometries indicates that P. letitiae does not represent an immature plumage or geographic variant of longicauda. although this species and P. letitiae may be sister taxa. No credible evidence for a hybrid origin of P. letitiae was discovered. "Letitia's Coquette" is proposed as the common English name for P. letitiae.

Known from two specimens of vague cific (Sibley & Monroe 1990). Zimmer provenance, Popelairia letitiae (Bourcier & (1950) advocated merging all band-rumped Mulsant, 1852), has been neither observed coquettes and thorn tails in a single , nor collected during the 20th century. This Lopkornis. Even under a narrow interpre- fact alone is reason enough to question the tation of generic limits, Popelairia would taxonomic validity of Letitia's Coquette, as have been merged with Discosura if not for many nominal trochiline taxa of compara- the racket-lipped rectrices of the latter (El- ble rarity have proven to be hybrids (Meyer liot 1878). In that eventuality, Popelairia de Sehauensee 1947; Graves 1996, 1997a, Reichenbach 1854 would become a junior 1997b, 1998a). Nonetheless, the systematic synonym of Discosura Bonaparte 1850. In status of P. letitiae remains unchallenged order to avoid nomenclatural confusion, (Mulsant & Verreaux 1876. Elliot 1878, however, I use the binomial. Popelairia le- Boucard 1893, Cory 1918, Simon 1921, Pe- titiae. tlvroughout this paper. ters 1945, Morony et al. 1975. Sibley & Monroe 1990). although Salvin (1892) may Methods have been the last taxonomic authority to critically examine the type specimen. The The type of Popelairia letitiae (BMNH relevance of this issue was brought to the 1888.7.25.83 in The Natural History Mu- forefront by the inclusion of P. letitiae in a seum, formerly British Museum of Natural recent survey of threatened avian species History) was obtained from John Gould, (Collar et al. 1992). Here I offer an apprais- who procured it from Bourcier (Gould al of the systematic status of P. letitiae. 1858, Warren 1966). A second specimen in Despite its current placement in the ge- the American Museum of Natural History nus Popelairia (Peters 1945, Morony et al. (AMNH 38060) was part of the Daniel Gi- 1975, Sibley & Monroe 1990), letitiae more raud Elliot collection cataloged in 1888 closely resembles Discosura longicauda in (fide Paul Sweet). Both specimens appear plumage color (Elliot 1878). Generic Limits to be males in definitive plumage as judged in the Trochilidae are based primarily on by their brilliant gorgets, crowns, elongated male plumage trails (Taylor 1909). This has rectrices, and unstriated maxillary ram- resulted in a proliferation of genera (» = phothecae (Figs. 1-3). I compared them 109), more than 1/4 of which are monospc- with male specimens of all species of hum- VOLUME 112, NUMBER 4 805 m 1 ^%^#-. • - §r*:'. \..vj 1 -' i^"^r «l-sal '.teL* '<,-%* m

_

Fig. 1. Multiple exposures of the lype specimen (BMNH 1888.7.25.S3) at Pupelairiit letitiae I liourcier & Mulsam. 1852). mingbirds deposited in The Natural History length (from anterior extension of feathers), Museum and the American Museum of and rectrix length (from point of insertion Natural History. It was not possible to com- of central rectrices to the tip of each rectrix) pare directly the two specimens. However, were made with digital calipers and round- I compared photographs of the AMNH ed to the nearest 0.1 mm. Rectrices are specimen of P. letitiae with the type spec- numbered from innermost (Rl) to outer- imen (BMNH), and vice versa. Because most (R5> (Table 1). previous characterizations of P. letitiae I evaluated the color of the plumage were brief and somewhat contradictory, I (forecrown, back above white band, rump provide a more detailed description in Ap- below white band, upper throat, lower side pendix 1. Measurements of wing chord, bill of throat, lower breast along midline) with 806 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Fig, 2, Dorsal and ventral views of Elliot's specimen of Papetairia letisiae (AMNH 38060).

Fig. 3. Lateral view of Elliot's specimen of Pupelairiu leliliae (AMNH 38060). VOLUME 112. NUMBER 4 807

Table I.—Measurements (mm.i of the two known specimens of Pope tat r tit tetitkw and male specimens of Discosura Ipngicattda (range; mean ± standard deviation) in definitive plumage.

Populairia tetiuut:

BMNH AMNH tii:;i"xi

Wine Chord 37.8 38.0 42.1-47.5 (45.2 ± 1.6) Bill length 10.5 10.9 10.2-12.4 (11.4 + 0.6) Rectrix 1 14.8 Missing 15.2 19.2 (16.7 ± 0.9) Rcetrix 2 19.7 16.1 24.3-28.2 (26.0 ±1,1) Rectrix 3 26.7 22.5 29.2-33.6 (32.0 ± 1.2) Reclrix J 30.7 29.3 32.3-37.5 (35.0 ± 1.4) Reetrix 5 36 2 38.S) 49.9-56.0 (52.5 ± 2.0)

1 Bahia. Brazil (*i = 4), Brazil (n 2). "Cayenne" {n = 3), "'British Guiana" {n = 1). Guyana (M = 4). locality unknown {it = I). "Tip (-0.2-0.4 mm) missing. a calibrated colorimeter (CR-221 Chroma based on the hypothesis that signals from Meter. Minolta Corporation) equipped with the cone receptors in the human eye are a 3.0 mm aperture. The measuring head of coded by the brain as light-dark (/.), red- the CP-221 uses 45° circumferential illu- green (o), and yellow-blue (£>). The ratio- mination. Light from the pulsed xenon arc nale is that a color cannot be perceived as lamp is projected onto the specimen surface red and green or yellow and blue at the by optical fibers arranged in a circle around same time. Therefore "redness" and the measurement axis to provide diffuse, "greenness" can be expressed as a single even lighting over the measuring area. Only value a. which is coded as positive if the light reflected perpendicular to the speci- color is red and negative if the color is men surface is collected for color analysis. green. Likewise, "yellowness" or "blue- Colorimetric data from iridescent gorget ness" is expressed by b for yellows and —b feathers are acutely dependent on the angle for blues. The third coordinate L, ranging of measurement, the curvature of the gorget from 0 to 100, describes the "lightness" of surface in museum skins, and the degree of color; low values are dark, high values are pressure applied to the plumage surface by light. The more light reflected from the the Chroma Meter aperture. In order to re- plumage the higher the L value will be. Vi- duce measurement variation, 1 held the ap- sual systems in (e.g.. Gold- erture flush with the plumage surface with- smith & Goldsmith 1979) differ signifi- out depressing the plumage surface. The cantly from those of humans. The relevance default setting for the CR-221 Chroma Me- of opponent color coordinates to colors per- ter displays mean values derived from three ceived by hummingbirds is unknown. sequential, in situ measurements. I repeated I considered four hypotheses: Popelairia this procedure three times for each area of letitiae represents (I) an immature plumage plumage, removing the aperture between of Discosura tongicauda; (2) a geographic trials. Thus, each datum summarized in Ta- variant of D. longicauda; (3) a hybrid; or ble 2 represents the mean of three indepen- (4) a valid species. In investigating the pos- dent measurements, each of which repre- sibility of hybridization, I considered the sents the average of three sequential default band-rumped coquettes and thomtails that measurements. occur in South America (i.e., or- Colorimetric characters were described in natus, L. gouldii, L. magnifictis. L. delattrei, terms of opponent-color coordinates (L, a, L. stictolophus, L. chalybeus, L. pavoninus, b) (Hunter & Harold 1987). This system is Popelairia popelairii. P. iangsdorfii, P. 803 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY Ol- WASHINGTON

Tallin 2.—L n h opponent color coordinates for plumage characters of the two known specimens of Popelatria ietiliae: L - lightness; a/-a = red/green: bi-b = yellow/blue.

UMNH AMNH H\INH IMS 7 25.83 SS060 Pijmuge chAfatttf /. " b ) " b

Forecrown golden-green l$S -5.7 12.0 23.1 -4.0 13.3 Lower baek above hand coppery-bronze 24.5 4.5 15.0 214 5.0 10.5 Rump below hand coppery-bronze 25.1 9.2 21). 1 19.6 8.5 11.4 Upper throat golden-green 11.6 -0.2 4,5 16.8 -3.4 8.9 Lower throat (side) golden-green 1.1.9 -1.3 9.0 13.4 -0.5 6.7 Lower breast (midline) bronze-green 25.6 2.1 1.5.8 22.9 3.9 10.7

•General color observed when specimen is held in a position that yields the greatest apparent brilliance. conversii, Discosura longicauda) as poten- plish-black in sub-definitive plumages of D. tial parental species ( of Sibley & longicauda), and dull bronze-green lower Monroe 1990). Fewer than half (23 of 55) breast and abdomen (spangled with irides- of the possible pairwise combinations of cent golden-bronze disks in both definitive the aforementioned species actually occur and sub-definitive plumages of D. longicau- in nature (i.e., species sympatric at the res- da). Finally, bill length is similar in P. le- olution of 1° x 1° latitude-longitude titiae and D. longicauda, but the wing and blocks). Unless otherwise noted, assess- rectrices are substantially shorter in P. le- ments of plumage characters refer to those titiae (Table I). The qualitative differences of males in definitive plumage. Assump- between P. letitiae and D. longicauda far tions and methods of hybrid diagnosis fol- exceed the magnitude of geographic varia- low Graves (1990) and Graves & Zusi tion exhibited within species of Popelairia (1990). and Lophornis, and approximate the level of morphological divergence observed Results among the largely allopatric rufous-crested Immature plumage or geographic variant species of Lophornis (Zimmer 1950). of Discosura longicauda?—A review of Hybrid!—I failed to discover convincing plumage and mensural characters demon- evidence for a hybrid origin of Popelairia strates that Popelairia letitiae is not an im- letitiae. Among the pool of potential paren- mature of Discosura longicauda. Immature tal species, the pale mandibular rampho- males of D. longicauda possess rounded theca (possibly orange in life) of P. letitiae rectrices (USNM 328627, AMNH 46737) is shared with the rufous-crested species of that are replaced in subsequent molts by Lophornis {or not us, gouldii, magnificus, sharply attenuated (R2-R4) and racket- delattrei, stictolophus). These same species tipped (R5) rectrices. The outer rectrices also exhibit varying amounts of rufous in (R4-R5) of Popelairia letitiae are sharply the gorget. Because rufous pigmentation attenuated and lack rackets. P. letitiae also appears to be inherited in a codominant differs from D. longicauda in lacking a fashion in hybrids (see Banks black chin spot, in possessing a yellowish- & Johnson 1961, Graves & Newfield 1996), brown mandibular ramphotheca (black in I would expect Lophornis hybrids in defin- D. longicauda), coppery-bronze back plum- itive plumage to exhibit traces of ochra- age (green in D. longicauda), white rump ceous or rufous pigments in crown and gor- band (buff in sub-definitive plumages of get feathers. However, none were found in Discosura longicauda). coppery-bronze P. letitiae (lOx magnification). This force- rump (green in definitive plumages, pur- fully suggests that P. letitiae shares no im- VOLUME I 12, NUMBER 4 809 mediate genealogical relationship with the vations are consistent with the hypothesis rufous-crested species of Lophornis. Like- that P. letitiae is a valid species. wise, I could see no manifestation of a co- In conclusion, analysis of plumage and ronal apterium (blue in life) present in L. size characters indicates that Popelairia le- chalyheus (Ruschi 1962) or the elongated titiae does not represent an immature plum- and spectacularly spotted auriculars of L. age or geographic variant of Discosura lon- pavoninus in either specimen of P. letitiae. gicauda, although the close resemblance of Further, none of the pair wise species com- the two suggests a sister species relation- binations drawn from the subset consisting ship. As noted in the introduction, the very of Discosura longicauda and Popelairia rarity of P. letitiae in museum collections (popelairii, langsdorjii, conversii) could raises the specter of byhridization. How- have produced the suite of characters ex- ever, based on known patterns of phenotyp- hibited by P. letitiae (e.g., pale mandibular ic inheritance in trochiline hybrids (Banks ramphotheca, coppery-bronze rump). & Johnson 1961; Graves 1990, 1998c. Additional evidence arguing against the 1999; Graves & Zusi 1990) and the char- hybrid hypothesis is provided by feather acteristics of phenotypic variants (e.g., length and shape, both of which appear to Graves 1998b), the possibility that P. leti- be controlled polygenically in hummingbird tiae represents a hybrid seems remote. Bar- hybrids (Banks & Johnson 1961, Graves ring discovery of contradictory data, P. le- 1990). Lophornis ornatus, L. gouldii, L. titiae should be regarded a valid species. magnifieus, L. delattrei, and L. stictolophus Geographic origin.—Both specimens of possess elongated crests (>11 mm), and L. Popelairia letitiae were thought to have chalybeus and L. gouldii have lateral gorget been collected in "Bolivia" (Bourcier & feathers that exceed 15 mm in length. Mulsant 1852, Elliot 1878), and Remsen & Crown (4.3-5.5 mm) and lateral gorget Tray lor (1989) suggested "northeastern Bo- feathers (6.8-7.0 mm) of P. letitiae are livia" as a possible site. The purveyor of rounded, similar in size and shape to those the type specimen is unknown (Bourcier & of Discosura longicauda. These data pro- Mulsant 1852), whereas "Verreaux" was vide further grounds for excluding Lophor- listed as the collector of the AMNH speci- nis species from the pool of potential pa- men. Both are relaxed taxidermy mounts rental species. All combinations of species prepared in a similar style, perhaps by the drawn from the subset of thorn tails {Pope- Verreaux brothers, who operated a thriving lairia popelairii, P, langsdorpi, P. conver- import/export business in natural history sii) and Discosura longicauda can again be specimens in Paris during the middle de- eliminated from consideration because their cades of the 19th century. outer rectrices are substantially longer than Collecting localities inscribed on labels those of P. letitiae. of 19th century hummingbird specimens The two specimens of Popelairia letitiae are frequently unreliable (Berlioz & Jouan- are similar in size and shape (Table 1), in 1944). For example, in the same paper Wing length differs by 0,5%, whereas the in which Popelairia letitiae was described, difference in rectrix lengths vary from 4.7% Bourcier & Mulsant (1852) reported the (R4) to 22.4% (R2). These values fall with- type locality of Ramphodon dohrnii as "la in the normal range of variation found Republique de I'Equateur," although this among museum samples of trochiline hum- species is apparently restricted to the Atlan- mingbirds (e.g., Graves 1996. 1997a. tic coastal forest of Brazil. Consequently, it 1998c). Plumage pattern and color are near- would be unwise to confine a contemporary ly identical, agreeing in such minor char- search for P. letitiae to Bolivia. acters as tibia] feathering and undertaiJ co- Common English name.—Bourcier & verts (Table 2, Appendix 1). These obser- Mulsant (1852:144) dedicated Popelairia sin PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON letitiae to the "jeune enfant de M"lL' la mar- Banks and Richard L. Zusi for comments quise Delgallo, fille de Pun des ornitholo- on the manuscript. gistes les plus celebres de 1'Europe, M. Le prince Charles Bonaparte." The authors of- Literature Cited fered no common name and Gould (1858) referred to the taxon simply as "Letitia" in Banks. R. C. & N. K, Johnson. 1961. A review of his Monograph of the Trochilidae. Sixty North American hybrid hummingbirds.—Con- years later, Cory (1918) proposed "Letitia\ dor 6.1:3-28. Thorn-bill." The group name "thornbill" is Berlioz, j . & C. Jouanin. 1944. Liste de Trocm'lides trouves dans les collections com me re i a les de now restricted to short-billed species in two Bogota.—Oiseau 14:126-155. related Andean genera, Chalcastigma and Bonaparte, C. L. 1850. Conspectus generam avium. E, Ramphomicron (Sibley & Monroe 1990). J, Brill. Lugduni Balavorum. No other common English name was used Bon card. A, 1893. Genera of humming . Part 2. in taxonomic literature unti I Meyer de Published by the author, London. Bourcier, J., &. £. Mulsant. 1852. Description de quel- Schaunsee (1966) coined a new name, ques nouvelles especes d'oiseaux-mouches.— "Coppery Thorntail," which has been used Annales des Sciences Physiques et Nature!les sporadically since then (e.g.. Collar et al, de Lyon 4:13U~I44. 1992). Meyer de Schauensee's name was Collar, N. J.. L. R Gon/aga, N. Krahhe. A, Madrono inappropriate because other species in the Nieto, L G Naranjo, T. A. Parker. 111. & D. C. complex possess "coppery" plumage, and Wege. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: The ICBP/1UCN Red Data Book. 3rd edition, because Popetairia letitiae does not possess part 2. International Council for Preser- a "thorntail" on par with those of the so- vation. Cambridge. UK. 1150 pp. called tliomtails (Popetairia popelmrii, P. Cory. C. B. 1918. Catalogue of birds of the Americas. langsdorfii, P. conversii). I recommend Part 2, No. I.—Field Museum of Natural His- "coquette" as a group name for the small tory Zoological Series 13:1-315. Elliot. D. G. 1878. A classification and synopsis of the band-rumped species currently placed in the Trochilidae. Smithsonian Contributions to genera, Lophornis. Popetairia. and Disco- knowledge. No. 317. sura (Sibley & Monroe 1990), and the com- Goldsmith, T. H., & K. M. Goldsmith. 1979. Discrim- mon English name, "Letitia's Coquette," ination of colors by the black-chinned hum- for Popetairia letitiae. mingbird. ArckllocflUS ulcxundri.—Journal of Comparative Physiology A I 30:209-220. Gould. J. 1858. A monograph of the Trochilidae. part Acknowledgments 3. Published by the author, London, unpaginat- ed. I thank Robert Prys-Jones, Michael Wal- Graves, G. R. 1990. Systematic*; of the • 'green-throat- ters. Mark Adams, Don Smith, and Frank ed sun an gels" (Aves: Trochilidae): valid taxa or Steinheimer (The Natural History Museum, hybrids'?—Proceedings of the Biological Soci- ety of Washington 103:6-25. Tring) and George Barrowclough, Mary . 1996. Diagnoses of hybrid hummingbirds LeCroy, and Paul Sweet (American Muse- (Aves: Trochilidae). 2. Hybrid origin of Erim- um of Natural History, New York) for ac- nemis sndemtriimi Butler.—Proceedings of the cess to collections in their care. Many Biological Society of Washington 109:764-769. thanks are owed to Leslie Overstreet . 1997a. Diagnoses of hybrid hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae). 3. Parentage of Lesbia or- (Smithsonian Institution Libraries) for bib- wni Lawrence.—Proceedings of the Biological liographic assistance, and to Don Hurlbert Society 110:314-319. (Smithsonian Photographic Services) for . 1997b. Diagnoses of hybrid hummingbirds help with the color plate. Travel was sup- (Aves: Trochilidae). 4, Hybrid origin of Calo- ported by the Department of Vertebrate Zo- ihnru-x decoratus Gould,—Proceedings of the Biological Society 110:320-325. ology, Research Opportunities Fund, and . 1998a. Diagnoses of hybrid hummingbirds the Alexander Wet more Fund, Smithsonian (Aves: Trochilidae). 5. Probable hybrid origin Institution. Finally, 1 thank Richard C. of Amazitia dislanx Wetmore & Phelps.—Pro- VOLUME 112. NUMBER 4 811

ceedtngs of the Biological Society of Washing- na parada nupcial. (Aves: Trochilidae).—Bole- ton II 1:28-34. tim do Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitao —. 1998b. Taxonomic notes on hummingbirds 34:1-6. {Aves: Trochilidae). 1. Eyiocnemis dyselius El- Salvin. O. 1892. Catalogue of the Picariae in the col- liot. 1872 is a melanislie specimen of Eriocnem- lection of the British Museum. Upupae and Tro- is cupreovenirh (Eraser, 1840). —Proceedings chili. Catalogue of the birds in the British Mu- of the Biological Society of Washington 111: seum, vol. 16 London. 433 pp. 420-424. Siblcy. C. G„ & B. L. Monroe, Jr. 1990. Distribution —. 1998c. Diagnoses of hybrid hummingbirds and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale Uni- (Aves: Trochilidae). 6. An inlergeneric hybrid. versity Press. New Haven. Connecticut, 1111 Aglaiocercus kings x Metal I urn tyriunthina. pp. from Venezuela.—Proceedings of the Biologi- Simon, E. 1921. Histoire naturelic des Trochilidae cal Society of Washington 111:511 -520. (synopsis et catalogue). Encyclopedia Roret, L. —, 199V. Diagnoses of hybrid hummingbirds Mulo. Paris, 416 pp. (Aves: Trochilidae). 8. A provisional hypothesis Taylor. W. P. 1909. An instance of hybridization in for the hybrid origin of Zodalia glycerin hummingbirds, with remarks on the weight of (Gould) 1858.—Proceedings of the Biological generic characters in die Trochilidae.—Auk 26: Society of Washington I 12:491-502. 291-293. —. & N. L. Newl'ield. 1996 Diagnoses of hybrid Warren. R L M. 1966. Type-specimens of birds in the hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae). 1. Charac- British Museum (Natural History), vol. I Non- terization of Cafypu tintut x Stt'HitLi calliope Passerines. British Museum of Natural History, and the possible effects of egg volume on hy- London, 320 pp. bridization potential.—Proceedings of the Bio- Zi miner. J T 1950. Studies of Peruvian birds. No. 57. logical Society of Washington 109:755-763. The genera Cfdibri, AftfhfQCOthorux, Kluix. Ltr- —. & R. L. Zusi, 1990. An inlergeneric hybrid /•ilmmi.i. and Cklorestes.—American Museum hummingbird Itietiodoxo Icadbeateri X Helitm- Novitates 1463:1-28. gelux amtthysticoills) from northern Colom- bia.—Condor 92:754-760. Hunter, R. S,. & R. W. Harold. 1987. The measurement Appendix I of appearance, 2nd edition. Wiley, New York. Description of male Popelairia letititw in definitive 411 pp. plumage based on the two known specimens (type, Meyer de Schauensee. R. 1947. New or little-known BMNH 1888.7.25.83: AMNH 38060|, Characteriza- Colombian birds.—Proceedings of the Acade- tion of structural colors is unusually subjective as color my of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 99:107- seen by the observer varies according to the angle of 126. inspection and direction of light. Color descriptions Morony. J. J., Jr.. W. J. Bock. & J. Farrand. Jr. 1975. were made under natural light. Reference list of the birds of the world, Amer- Forecrown and crown (to a line drawn behind the ican Museum of Natural History. New York. eyes) are brilliant golden-green. The crown color 207 pp. blends smoothly into dark bronze-green on the hind- Mulsunt. E.. & E. Verreaux. 1876. Histoire Nature lie neck and back. Crown feathers are of moderate length de Oiseaux-mouehes ou Colibris. constituant la (4.3-5.5 mm long) and rounded. The mantle emits a famille des Tntchilides. part 3 Bureau de la So- coppery-bronze iridescence when viewed in direct ciety Linneenne. Lyon. 98 pp. light. Wing coverts are the same color as hack plum- Peters, J. 1945. Check-list of birds of the world, vol. age. A narrow white band crosses the lower back. 5. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cam- Hand leathers are gray, broadly tipped with silky white bridge, Massachusetts. 306 pp. barbs (especially apparent at the sides). The white Re ie hen bach, L. 1854. Aufzahlung der Colibris oder band is bordered posteriorly by a coppery-bronze (cop- Trochitideen in iher wahren natOrifcbea Ver- pery-purple or coppery-red at some angles! rump, wandtschaft. nebsl Schliissel ihrer Synonymik. which in turn is bordered by bronze-green uppermil Journal Rlr Omithologie. Extra-heft 118531:1- covens. 24. The chin to upper breast is brilliant golden-green Remsen. J. V. Jr.. & M. A. Tray lor. 1989. An annotated (about the same as crown: see Table 2). with coppery- list of the birds of Bolivia. Buteo Books. Ver- gold reflections at the sides of the throat (when viewed million. South Dakota. head-on). Iridescent terminal disks are bordered prox- Ruschi, A. 1962. A uple'ria corona! e as palpebras de imally by a narrow subterminul bronze-green zone, a Lopharnis chalybea chalybea (Vieillot) e Li/- broader band of dull white (obscured by imbricated phomis chalybea verreauxii J. & E. Verreaux. feather tips), and finally by gray basal barbs. Obscured a sua constitui^ao pigmentaria e a sita funcao portions of gorget feathers become progressively gray- 812 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON er toward the sides of the throat; the outer vane of triees (R2-R4) are similar in color and pattern. The lateral gorget leathers is gray below the iridescent disk. outer vanes of R4 & R3 in the AMNH specimen are Lateral gorget leathers are of moderate length (6.8-7.0 faintly glossed with bronzy-green. Both vanes of R2 mm I. the iridescent disks are slightly wider I -2,8-3.1 in the AMNH specimen are glossed with bronze-green mm) than long (-2.3-2,4 mm). Green terminal disks (less pronounced in tile type). There is a small V- are reduced or absent along the posterior border of the shaped bufiy spot at the tip of R2 in both specimens. gorget, producing a mottled green and white pectoral The innermost pair of rectrices is absent in the AMNH band. The breast below the pectoral band is bron/.e- specimen. Those of the BMNH specimen are bronze- green along the mid I inc. This area is burnished with green, broadly tipped with black, and faintly marked coppery-gold (AMNH specimen) and a few spangles with terminal V-shaped cinnamomeous spot. From be- of coppery-red immediately below the pectoral band. low, the medial vanes are bluish-black HO-RSl: the Feathers of the lower belly and sides are broadly racfuses are white, becoming very pale buffy-white tipped with huffy-while and grayish-white barbs. Vent proxinially. The remiges, which laek emarginations or feathers are dark gray, tipped with white. The undertail markedly thickened rachises, are black with faint pur- coverts are dark green with gray bases and rufous tips. ple and bronze glossing under strong ligh[. Tibial feathers are of moderate length (reaehing aboul The maxillary rampholheea is black becoming dark half way to the base of the hallux). dark gray, lipped brown at the nares. The nares are completely obscured with a mixture of white and cinnamomeous barbs. by adpiessed feathers. The mamlibuhir rampholheea is The outermost rectrix (R5) is brownish-black with brownish-yellow (slightly darker in the type) becoming a bluish sheen on the medial vane. A pale stripe bor- dark brown about half way to the bill lip. Semes of dering the rachis becomes wider and buflier near the toes and tarsometatarsus are medium brown—less base of the shaft. Dorsal rachis color is pale cinna- heavily melanized than in Popelttiria langsdorfii or momeous, becoming browner distally. The inner rec- Discosura longicauda,