Sophia’s Erythonote, John Gould by Hummingbirds

Sophia’s Erythonote (Erythronota Sophiæ), John Gould Before taking up my pen to give an account and description of the bird figured on the opposite Plate: I have carefully examined, side by side, the type-specimen from which M. Bourcier took his description of Trochilus Sophiæ, the type-specimen of the bird I described as Trochilus caligatus, and, through the kindness of the Director of the Royal Museum of Berlin, a veritable example of M. Cabanis’ Hemithylaca Hoffmanni; and I find that the three birds are so precisely alike, that Iam unable to detect any difference either in size, markings, or colour: the date of publication must therefore determine which of the three names is to be retained as a specific designation for the present species; and as that of M. Bourcier was proposed in 1846, my own in 1848, and M. Cabanis’ in 1860, the former must be the one adopted, and the others placed in the rank of synonyms. This illustration has been restored to its original vibrancy by enhancing colors and removing unwanted marks. A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds was published between 1849 and 1887 by English ornithologist John Gould. This monumental work depicts and describes all the known species of hummingbirds at the time - comprising 418 lithographic plates and information on 537 species."