毛腿蜂鸟属·Eriocnemis Isaacsoni

New Granada

Up to the present time only a single example of this species has reached Europe.

The specimen referred to was received by M. Parzudaki of Paris in a large collection of birds from Santa Fé de Bogota, in examining which, it did not escape the discriminating eye of that well-known naturalist. It subsequently passed into the hands of the late Earl of Derby, and now forms part of the great Collection at Liverpool. It received its specific appellation from M. Parzudaki, and I quite agree with him in considering it distinct from every other known member of the genus. Its nearest ally is the E. cupreiventris, from which, however, it differs in its much longer bill, in the more coppery hue of its upper surface, and in the green colouring of its under tail-coverts. Although received direct from Bogota, that locality is doubtless not its true habitat, for if it were, we should certainly have received other examples during the thirteen years which have elapsed since it was first characterized.

My thanks are due to the Trustees of the Derby Museum, for the loan of their unique specimen for the purpose of examination, and permission to figure it in the present work.

Head and back dull greenish bronze; upper tail-coverts purplish; throat shining green, passing into rich golden bronze on the sides of the neck, abdomen and flanks; wings purplish brown; tail brownish black; under tail-coverts shining green; thighs clothed with white down-like feathers.

The figures are of the natural size.

References

• Ornysmia Isaacsonii, Parz. Rev. Zool. 1845, p. 95.
• Hylocharis Isaacsoni, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 114, Hylocharis, sp. 9.
• Eriopus isaacsoni, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 80, Eriopus, sp. 9.
• Eriocnemys isaacsoni, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 252.
• Phemonoë Isaacsoni, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 9.