116. Trochilus alexandri Bourc. & Muls. Black-chinned Hummingbird.—The first specimen met with was a female which, with a nest and two eggs, was taken at Tucson on April 23. The species was also found breeding among the Santa Rita Mountains, as well as near Camp Lowell. At all these points it was decidedly the most abundant of the Hummingbirds.
Six of the seven examples collected are females, and Mr. Stephens remarks on the apparent absence of the males during the breeding season.
The nest just mentioned, and another obtained April 28 in the same locality, are now in my possession. Both were built in willows, one being saddled on a small branch, while the other rested lightly in the fork of a slender twig. Their construction is homogeneous, the only material used being a creamy-white down, probably from willow catkins. One nest, however, has a few delicate, faded leaves attached to its exterior. The eggs are indistinguishable from those of T. colubris. The first set was fresh, the second slightly incubated.
117. Calypte costæ (Bourc.) Gould. Costa’s Hummingbird.
289, ♀ ad., Tucson, April 26. Length, 3.70; extent, 4.60. “Iris dark brown; bill and legs black.”
294, ♂ im., Tucson, April 27. Length, 3.55; extent, 4.52. This specimen lacks the ruffs of the adult male, but has a patch of violet feathers on the centre of the throat.
118. Selasphorus platycercus (Swains.) Bonap. Broad-tailed Hummingbird.
366, ♂ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 13. Length, 4; extent, 5.50. “Iris dark brown; bill black; feet black, their soles lighter.”
385, ♂ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 15. Length, 4.70; extent, 5.90.
119. Iache latirostris (Swains.) Elliot. Broad-billed Hummingbird.—From the known fact of its occurrence among the Chiricahua Mountains, as ascertained by Mr. Henshaw in 1874, it was of course to be expected that this Hummer would eventually be found, under similar conditions, in other parts of Arizona, a probability which Mr. Stephens has confirmed by the capture of five specimens in the Santa Rita Mountains. In addition to these, several others were seen at various times during his short stay in that range, and I infer from his notes that the birds were not uncommon there. They were always found near water, and usually along the streams which flowed through cañons, high among the mountains. They seemed to prefer sycamores to other trees, and invariably perched on dead twigs where they could command an open view. “Their notes were flat and differed from those of other Hummers.”