Cyanospiza amœna.
2645 ♂
Gen. Char. Bill deep at the base, compressed; the upper outline considerably curved; the commissure rather concave, with an obtuse, shallow lobe in the middle. Gonys slightly curved. Feet moderate; tarsus about equal to middle toe; the outer lateral toe barely longer than the inner, its claw falling short of the base of the middle; hind toe about equal to the middle without claw. Claws all much curved, acute. Wings long and pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the second and third quills longest. Tail appreciably shorter than the wings; rather narrow, very nearly even.
The species of this genus are all of very small size and of showy plumage, usually blue, red, or green, in well-defined areas. The females plain olivaceous or brownish; paler beneath.
Species.
A. Head all round uniform blue; eyelids not different, commissure distinctly sinuated.
a. Lower parts blue; no white bands on wing.
1. C. cyanea. Entirely deep ultramarine-blue, more purplish on the head, somewhat greenish posteriorly. Female dull umber above, grayish-white beneath, the breast with obsolete darker streaks. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, south, in winter, to Panama.
b. Lower parts white, the breast rufous. One broad and distinct, and a narrower, more obsolete white band on the wing.
2. C. amœna. Head and neck, all round, and rump, bright greenish-blue; back, wings, and tail more dusky; a narrow white collar between rufous of the breast and blue of the throat. Female grayish-brown above, the rump tinged with blue. Beneath dull whitish, the breast and jugulum more buffy. Hab. Western Province of United States.
B. Head party-colored; eyelids different from adjoining portions. Commissure hardly appreciably sinuated, or even concave.