Loe raamatut: «A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1», lehekülg 33

Young (8,841, Loup Fork of Platte, August 5; F. V. Hayden). Above light grayish-brown; beneath yellow on anterior half as in adult, but yellow less pure; rest of under parts (except abdomen) ochraceous; markings on head obsolete, the eyelids only being distinctly white.

Hab. Western and Middle Provinces of United States, east to Missouri River and Texas; Cape St. Lucas and Western Mexico.

The most tangible difference between this bird and typical virens consists in the longer tail. In addition, the upper plumage is grayish, with hardly any olive tinge, and the white maxillary stripe extends farther back; the bill is not so deep as that of the Eastern bird. All these differences, however, are in strict accordance with various laws; the more grayish cast of plumage is what we should expect in birds from the Middle Province, while the restriction of the yellow from the maxillæ we see also in Western specimens of Helminthophaga ruficapilla; the longer tail, also, is a well-known characteristic of Western birds, as distinguished from Eastern of the same species.

Upon the whole, therefore, taking into consideration the absolute identity of their habits and notes, we can only consider the I. longicauda and I. virens as restricted, as being merely geographical races of one species.

This variety, as well as the Eastern, has in autumn and winter a slightly different plumage. A pair (53,348 ♂, and 53,347 ♀, West Humboldt Mountains, Nevada) obtained September 4 differ in the following respects from spring adults: the upper plumage is decidedly brown, with even a russet tinge,—not gray, with a greenish wash; the lores are less purely black, and the sides and crissum are deep cream-color, instead of pure white; the female has a shade of olive across the jugulum; both male and female have the lower mandible almost wholly white, and the commissure broadly edged with the same.

No. 38,402 ♂, Laramie Peak, June, has the throat and jugulum strongly stained with deep cadmium-orange.

Habits. The Western or Long-tailed Chat has an exclusively Western distribution, and has been found from Mexico and Cape St. Lucas to Oregon, on the Pacific coast, and as far to the east as the Upper Missouri.

According to Dr. Cooper, these birds appear in San Diego and at Fort Mojave in the latter part of April. They are said to inhabit chiefly the warmer valleys near streams and marshes, rarely on the coast. At Fort Mojave, Dr. Cooper found a nest of this bird May 19, built in a dense thicket of algarobia. It contained three eggs, and one of the Molothrus. The nest was built of slender green twigs and leaves, lined with grass and hair. The eggs were white, sprinkled with cinnamon, somewhat in the form of a ring near the larger end, and measured .75 by .64 of an inch.

These nests were usually very closely concealed, but one that he found at Santa Cruz, near the coast, was in a very open situation, only two feet above the ground. When the nest is approached, the old birds are very bold, keeping up a constant scolding, and almost flying in the face of an intruder. At other times they are very shy. The notes and sounds uttered by the Western bird Dr. Cooper states to be the same as those of the Eastern species, and with the same grotesqueness. They leave the State of California on or before the first of September.

Dr. Gambel states that the Chat appears in California about the middle of April, resorting to the hedges, vineyards, and bushy portions of gardens to breed.

Mr. Xantus found a nest of this bird (S. I., 896) at Fort Tejon, California, in May. It is a very symmetrical and exactly circular nest, six inches wide and three in height. The cavity has a diameter of three inches at the brim, and a depth of two. It is built of soft strips of bark, large stems, and branches of dry plants, leaves, twigs, and other vegetable substances. These are very neatly and compactly interwoven. The nest is elaborately lined with finer stems and flexible grasses. Another nest (S. I., 1816), obtained at Neosho Falls, Kansas, by Mr. B. F. Goss, is of irregular shape. Its height is four inches, and its diameter varies from three and three quarters to five inches. It was built in a depression in the ground, and its shape adapted to its location. The base is composed entirely of leaves, impacted when in a moist and decaying condition. Within these is interwoven a strong basket-like structure, made of long and slender stems, strips of bark, and fine rootlets, lined with finer grasses and stems of plants.

A nest of this species from Sacramento is composed, externally, of fine strips of inner bark of the grape and of deciduous trees, coarse straws, stems of plants, twigs, and dried remains of weeds, etc. It is lined with finer stems and long wiry roots, resembling hair. This nest has a diameter of four inches and a height of three. The cavity has a diameter of three inches at the rim, and a depth of two.

In regard to this variety Mr. Ridgway writes: “In no respect that I could discover does this Western bird differ from the Eastern in habits, manners, or notes. The nesting-habits are exactly the same.”

The eggs of this species are, for the most part, larger than are those of the virens. They vary in length from .95 to 1.00 of an inch, and have an average breadth of .70 of an inch. Their markings do not differ essentially in shadings from those of the common species.

Subfamily SETOPHAGINÆ

Gen. Char. Sylvicoline birds with the characters of Flycatchers; the bill notched at tip, depressed and broad at the base, though quite deep; the rictus with well-developed bristles reaching beyond the nostrils, sometimes to the end of the bill. First quill rather less than the fourth, or still shorter. Size of the species rarely exceeding six inches. Colors red, yellow, and olive.

The species of this section resemble the small Flycatchers of the family Tyrannidæ in the structure of the bill, etc., and in the habit of capturing insects more or less on the wing, though they are more restless in their movements, seeking their prey among trees or in bushes, rapidly changing their place, instead of occupying a perch and returning to it after pursuing an insect through the air. The yellow or orange crown found in many species also carries out the analogy; but the strictly Oscine characters of the tarsal scutellæ and the nine primaries will serve to distinguish them.

The Setophaginæ have their greatest development in Middle and South America, no less than nine genera and subgenera being on record, of which only two extend into the United States. Of one of these, Setophaga, we have only a single species of the many described; the other, Myiodioctes, has no members other than those found in the United States.

The following diagnosis is prepared to distinguish our genera from the South American:—

A. Wings pointed; the first quill longer than the fifth; the third as long as or longer than the fourth. Tail nearly even, or slightly rounded (the difference of the feathers less than .20); the feathers broad and firm; the outer webs of exterior feathers narrow at base, but widening to nearly double the width near the end.

1. Bill from gape nearly as long as skull, broad at base and much depressed; rictal bristles reaching half-way from nostrils to tip. Culmen and commissure nearly straight. Wings equal to the tail. Tarsi long; toes short; middle toe without claw, about half the tarsus … Setophaga.

2. Bill from gape nearly as long as skull, broad at base, but deep and more sylvicoline; rictal bristles reaching but little beyond nostrils. Culmen and commissure straight to the tip. Wings longer than the almost even tail. Middle toe without claw, three fifths the tarsus … Myiodioctes.

3. Bill from gape much shorter than head, wide at base, but compressed and high; the culmen and commissure much curved from base, scarcely notched at tip; rictal bristles reaching nearly half-way from nostrils to tip. Wings about equal to the almost even tail. Middle toe without claw, about three fifths the rather short tarsus … Cardellina.

B. Wings rounded; the first quill shorter than in the preceding section; always less than the fifth. South American genera.⁵⁹

Several species of Setophaginæ have, on not very well established grounds, been assigned to the southern borders of the United States. They are as follows:—

Cardellina rubra, Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 264. (Setophaga rubra, Swainson.) Parus leucotis, Giraud, Birds Texas. Hab. Mexico. Rich carmine-red. Wing and tail-feathers brown. Ear-coverts silvery white. Length, 4.70; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.55.

Basileuterus culicivorus, Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 246. (Sylvia culicivora, Licht. ) Muscicapa brasieri, Giraud, Texas Birds. Hab. Southern Mexico; Guatemala and Costa Rica. Top of head with two black stripes enclosing a median of yellow. Back olivaceous-ash. Beneath entirely yellow. No rufous on side of head. Length, 4.90; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.25.

Basileuterus belli, Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 247. Muscicapa belli, Giraud, Texas Birds. Hab. Mexico and Guatemala. Top of head and face chestnut. A yellow superciliary stripe bordered above by dusky. Back olive; beneath yellow. Length, 5.10; wing, 2.28; tail, 2.50.

Genus MYIODIOCTES, Aud

Myiodioctes, Audubon, Synopsis, 1839, 48. (Type, Motacilla mitrata, Gm.)—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 291.

Wilsonia, Bonap. List. 1838 (preoccupied in botany).

Myioctonus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1850, 18. (Type, Motacilla mitrata.)

Myiodioctes mitratus.

2226

Gen. Char. Bill broad, depressed; the lateral outlines a little concave; the bristles reaching not quite half-way from nostrils to tip. Culmen and commissure nearly straight to near the tip. Nostrils oval, with membrane above. Wings pointed, rather longer than the nearly even but slightly rounded tail; first quill shorter than the fourth, much longer than the fifth; the second and third quills longest. Tarsi rather lengthened, the scutellar divisions rather indistinct; the middle toe without claw, about three fifths the tarsus.

This genus is distinguished from Setophaga, mainly by stouter feet and longer toes; shorter and more even tail, narrower bill, etc. The species are decidedly muscicapine in general appearance, as shown by the depressed bill with bristly rictus. The type M. mitratus is very similar in character of bill to Dendroica castanea, but the wings are much shorter; the tail longer and more graduated; the legs and hind toe longer, and the first primary shorter than the fourth (.15 of an inch less than the longest), not almost equal to the longest. The species are plain olive or plumbeous above, and yellow beneath. They may be grouped as follows:—

A. Tail with white patches on the inner feathers.

1. M. mitratus. Head and neck black. Front, cheeks, and under parts yellow. Back olive-green. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, south to Panama and West Indies.

2. M. minutus. Olive above; yellowish beneath. Two white bands on the wings. Hab. Eastern United States.

B. Tail without white patch on the outer feathers.

3. M. pusillus. Crown black. Forehead, cheeks, and under parts yellow. Back olive.

Yellow of forehead without an orange tinge; upper parts dull olive-green; pileum with very dull steel-blue lustre. Hab. Eastern Province and Rocky Mountains of North America, south to Costa Rica. … var. pusillus.

Yellow of forehead with an orange cast; upper parts bright yellowish-green; pileum with a bright steel-blue lustre. Hab. Pacific Province of North America, from Sitka to Costa Rica … var. pileolata.

4. M. canadensis. Streaks on the crown, stripes on sides of head and neck, with pectoral collar of streaks, black. Rest of under parts, and line to and around the eye, yellow. Back bluish. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, south to Ecuador.

Myiodioctes mitratus, Aud

HOODED WARBLER

Motacilla mitrata, Gmelin, S. N. I, 1788, 293. Sylvia m. Lath.; Vieill.; Bon.; Nutt.; Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cx. Sylvicola m. Max. Sylvania m. Nuttall, Man. I, 1840, 333. Setophaga m. Jard. Wilsonia m. Bon. 1838.—Allen, Pr. Essex Inst. 1864. Myiodioctes m. Aud. Syn. 1839, 48.—Ib. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxi.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova); 1858, 358 (Honduras).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 292; Rev. 239.—Jones, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 26 (March).—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 63 (Panama R. R.).—Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba).—Samuels, 245. Myioctonus m. Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851.—Ib. Jour. Orn. III, 1855, 472 (Cuba). Muscicapa cucullata, Wilson, III, pl. xxvi, fig. 3. Muscicapa selbyi, Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pl. ix.

Sp. Char. Male. Bill black; feet pale yellow. Head and neck all round and forepart of the breast black. A broad patch on the forehead extending round on the entire cheeks and ear-coverts, with the under parts, bright yellow. Upper parts and sides of the body olive-green. Greater portion of inner web of outer three tail-feathers white.

Female similar, but without the black; the crown like the back; the forehead yellowish; the sides of the head yellow, tinged with olive on the lores and ear-coverts. Throat bright yellow.

Length, 5.00; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.55. (Skin.)

Hab. Eastern Province of United States, rather southern; Bermuda; Cuba; Jamaica; Eastern Mexico; Honduras and Guatemala to Panama R. R. Orizaba (autumn, Sumichrast); Yucatan (Lawrence).

A young male in second year (2,245, Carlisle, Penn., May) is similar to the female, but the hood is sharply defined anteriorly, though only bordered with black, the olive-green reaching forward almost to the yellow; there are only very slight indications of black on the throat. Apparently the male of this species does not attain the full plumage until at least the third year, as is the case with Setophaga ruticilla.

Myiodioctes pusillus.

Habits. This beautiful and singularly marked Warbler is a Southern species, though not exclusively so. It is more abundant in South Carolina than any other State, so far as I am aware. It is, however, found as far to the north as Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and Southern New York, and, farther west, as far north as the shores of Lake Erie. It has also been found in Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Eastern Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Throughout Central America it appears to be abundant during the winter.

Mr. Audubon also states that it abounds in Louisiana and along the banks of the Mississippi and the Ohio. It occurs on the Hudson to some distance above New York. It appears from the South early in March, and has young already hatched, in Louisiana, early in May.

It is said to be one of the liveliest of its tribe, and to be almost constantly in motion. It is fond of secluded places, and is equally common in the thick canebrakes, both of the high and the low lands, and in the tangled undergrowth of impenetrable swamps. It has a peculiarly graceful manner of closing and opening its broad tail, that at once distinguishes it from every other bird, as it gambols from tree to tree, now in sight, and now hid from the eye, but ever within hearing.

Mr. Audubon adds that its call-note so closely resembles that of the Spiza ciris that it requires a practised ear to distinguish them. But its song is very different. This consists of three notes, and is loud, lively, and pleasing. This song is said to be made of sounds resembling the syllables weet, weet, weetēē. Extremely vocal in the early spring, it becomes nearly silent as soon as its brood is hatched. It resumes its song when its mate is again sitting on her eggs, as they have more than one brood in a season.

They are described as expert flycatchers, full of activity and spirit, flying swiftly after their insect prey; and catching the greater part on the wing. Their flight is low, gliding, and often protracted.

Mr. Bachman narrates a striking instance of its courage and conjugal devotion. While a pair of these Warblers were constructing a nest, a Sharp-shinned Hawk pounced upon and bore off the female. The male followed close after the Hawk, flying within a few inches and darting at him in all directions, and so continued until quite out of sight.

Wilson states that it builds a very neat and compact nest, generally in the fork of a small bush. It is formed of moss and flaxen fibres of plants, and lined with hair or feathers. The eggs, five in number, he describes as of a grayish-white, with red spots at the larger end. He noticed its arrival at Savannah as early as the 20th of March. Mr. Audubon adds that these nests are always placed in low situations, a few feet from the ground.

The late Dr. Gerhardt, of Varnell’s Station, Georgia, informed me, by letter, that the Hooded Warbler deposits her eggs about the middle of May, laying four. The nest is not unlike that of the Spiza cyanea, but is larger. It is constructed of dry leaves and coarse grass on the outside, and within of dry pine-needles, interwoven with long yellow grasses and sometimes with horsehair. They are built, for the most part, in the neighborhood of brooks and creeks, in oak bushes, four or five feet from the ground. The female sits so closely, and is so fearless, that Dr. Gerhardt states he has sometimes nearly caught her in his hand.

In another letter Dr. Gerhardt describes a nest of this species as measuring three inches in height, three in external diameter, and an inch and a quarter in the depth of its cavity. Externally it was built of dry leaves and coarse grasses, lined inside with horsehair, fine leaves of pine, and dry slender grasses. It was constructed on a small oak growing in low bottom-land, and was three feet from the ground. The complement of eggs is four.

Mr. Ridgway states that this species is a common summer resident in the bottom-lands along the Lower Wabash, in Southern Illinois, inhabiting the cane-brakes and the margins of bushy swamps.

The eggs of this Warbler are oval in shape, with one end quite pointed. They measure .70 by .50 of an inch. Their ground-color is a beautiful bright white, when the egg is fresh, strongly tinged with flesh-color. The spots are of a fine red, with a few markings of a subdued purple.

Myiodioctes minutus, Baird

SMALL-HEADED FLYCATCHER

Muscicapa minuta, Wilson, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 62, pl. 1, fig. 5.—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, pl. ccccxxxiv, fig. 3.—Ib. Birds Am. I, pl. lxvii. Sylvia minuta, Bon. Wilsonia m. Bon. List, 1838. Myiodioctes minutus, Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 241. Sylvania pumilia, Nutt. Man. I, 1840, 334.

Sp. Char. Wings short, the second quills longest. Tail of moderate-length, even. General color of upper parts light greenish-brown; wings and tail dark olive-brown, the outer feathers of the latter with a terminal white spot on the inner web; a narrow white ring surrounding the eye; two bands of dull white on the wings; sides of the head and neck greenish-yellow; the rest of the lower parts pale yellow, gradually fading into white behind. Male, 5 inches long; extent, 8.25 inches.

Hab. Eastern United States.

Habits. All that is known in regard to this species we receive from Wilson and Audubon, and there is a decided discrepancy in their several statements. Wilson states that his figure was taken from a young male shot on the 24th of April, but in what locality he does not mention. He adds that he afterwards shot several individuals in various parts of New Jersey, particularly in swamps. He found these in June, and has no doubt they breed there.

Audubon claims that Wilson’s drawing was a copy from his own of a bird shot by him in Kentucky on the margin of a pond. He throws a doubt as to the correctness of Wilson’s statement that they have been found in New Jersey, as no one else has ever met with any there. That may be, however, and Wilson’s statement yet be correct. The same argument carried out would reject the very existence of the bird itself, as no well-authenticated records of its occurrence since then can be found. They are at least too doubtful to be received as unquestionable until the genuine bird can be produced. Mr. Nuttall, it is true, states that Mr. Charles Pickering obtained a specimen of this bird many years ago, near Salem, Mass., and that he had himself also seen it in the same State, at the approach of winter. In the fall of 1836, when the writer resided in Roxbury, a cat caught and brought into the house a small Flycatcher, which was supposed to be of this species. It was given to Mr. Audubon, who assented to its correct identification, but afterwards made no mention of it. The presumption, therefore, is that we may have been mistaken.

In regard to its habits, Wilson represents it as “remarkably active, running, climbing, and darting about among the opening buds and blossoms with extraordinary agility.” Audubon states that in its habits it is closely allied with the pusillus and the mitratus, being fond of low thick coverts in swamps and by the margin of pools. He also attributes to it a song of rather pleasing notes, enunciated at regular intervals, loud enough to be heard at the distance of sixty yards. These peculiarities seem to separate it from the true Flycatchers and to place it among the Warblers.

Myiodioctes pusillus, Bonap

GREEN BLACK-CAPPED FLYCATCHER

Muscicapa pusilla, Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 103, pl. xxvi, fig. 4. Wilsonia pus. Bon. Sylvania pus. Nutt. Myiodioctes pus. Bon. Consp. 1850, 315.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova); 1858, 299 (Oaxaca Mts.; Dec.); 1859, 363 (Xalapa); 373.—Ib. Catal. 1861, 34, No. 203.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 293 (in part); Rev. 240 (in part).—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—Samuels, 246. Myioctonus pus. Cab. M. H. 1851, 18.—Ib. Jour. 1860, 325 (Costa Rica). Sylvia wilsoni, Bon.; Nutt. Muscicapa wilsoni, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxiv. Setophaga wilsoni, Jard. Myiodioctes wilsoni, Aud. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxv. Sylvia petasodes, Licht. Preis-Verz. 1830.

Sp. Char. Forehead, line over and around the eye, and under parts generally, bright yellow. Upper part olive-green; a square patch on the crown lustrous-black. Sides of body and cheeks tinged with olive. No white on wings or tail. Female similar, the black of the crown replaced by olive-green. Length, 4.75; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.30.

Hab. Eastern portions of United States, west to the Snake and Humboldt Rivers; north to Alaska, south through Eastern Mexico and Guatemala to Costa Rica; Chiriqui (Salvin).

Habits. Wilson’s Black-Cap is found throughout the United States from ocean to ocean, and as far to the north as Alaska and the Arctic shores, where, however, it is not common. Mr. Dall shot a specimen, May 30, on the Yukon River, where it was breeding. Mr. Bischoff obtained others with nests and eggs at Sitka, and afterwards found it more abundant at Kodiak. On the Pacific coast Dr. Suckley found it very abundant in the neighborhood of Fort Steilacoom, where it frequented thickets and small scrub-oak groves, in its habits resembling the Helminthophaga celata, flitting about among the dense foliage of bushes and low trees in a busy, restless manner. He describes its cry as a short chit-chat call. In California, Dr. Cooper notes their first arrival early in May, and states that they migrate along the coast, up at least to the Straits of Fuca. At Santa Cruz he noted their arrival, in 1866, about the 20th of April. They were then gathering materials for a nest, the male bird singing merrily during his employment. As they have been observed in Oregon as early as this, it has been conjectured that some may remain all winter among the dense shrubbery of the forests.

This bird winters in large numbers in Central America, where it is apparently very generally distributed. Mr. Salvin found it very common at Duenas. It was taken at Totontepec, among the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard.

Mr. Ridgway found it very common during the summer and autumn months among the willows of the fertile river valleys, and among the rank shrubbery bordering upon the streams of the cañons of the higher interior range of mountains. It was found in similar situations with the Dendroica æstiva, but it was much more numerous. During September it was most abundant among the thickets and copses of the East Humboldt Mountains, and in Ruby Valley, at all altitudes, frequenting the bushes along the streams, from their sources in the snow to the valleys.

Wilson first met with and described this species from specimens obtained in Delaware and New Jersey. He regarded it as an inhabitant of the swamps of the Southern States, and characterized its song as “a sharp, squeaking note, in no wise musical.” It is said by him to leave the Southern States in October.

Audubon states that it is never found in the Southern States in the summer months, but passes rapidly through them on its way to the northern districts, where it breeds, reaching Labrador early in June and returning by the middle of August. He describes it as having all the habits of a true Flycatcher, feeding on small insects, which it catches on the wing, snapping its bill with a sharp clicking sound. It frequents the borders of lakes and streams fringed with low bushes.

Mr. Nuttall observed this species in Oregon, where it arrived early in May. He calls it a “little cheerful songster, the very counterpart of our brilliant and cheerful Yellow-Bird.” Their song he describes as like ’tsh-’tsh-’tsh-tshea. Their call is brief, and not so loud. It appeared familiar and unsuspicious, kept in bushes busily collecting its insect fare, and only varied its employment by an occasional and earnest warble. By the 12th of May some were already feeding their full-fledged young. Yet on the 16th of the same month he found a nest containing four eggs with incubation only just commenced. This nest was in a branch of a small service-bush, laid very adroitly, as to concealment, upon a mass of Usnea. It was built chiefly of hypnum mosses, with a thick lining of dry, wiry, slender grasses. The female, when approached, slipped off the nest, and ran along the ground like a mouse. The eggs were very similar to those of Dendroica æstiva, with spots of a pale olive-brown, confluent at the greater end.

A nest found by Audubon in Labrador was placed on the extremity of a small horizontal branch, among the thick foliage of a dwarf fir, a few feet from the ground and in the very centre of a thicket. It was made of bits of dry mosses and delicate pine twigs, agglutinated together and to the branches and leaves around it, from which it was suspended. It was lined with fine vegetable fibres. The diameter of the nest was three and a half and the depth one and a half inches. He describes the eggs, which were four, as white; spotted with reddish and brown dots, the markings being principally around the larger end, forming a circle, leaving the extremity plain.

In this instance the parents showed much uneasiness at the approach of intruders, moving about among the twigs, snapping their bills, and uttering a plaintive note. In Newfoundland these birds had already begun to migrate on the 20th of August. He met with them in considerable numbers in Northern Maine in October, 1832. Mr. Turnbull mentions it as a rather abundant bird of Eastern Pennsylvania, appearing there early in May, in transitu, and again in October.

Mr. T. M. Trippe has observed this species at Orange, N. J., from the 19th to the 30th of May. It is said to keep low down in the trees, and is fond of haunting thickets and open brush fields. Occasionally he has heard it utter a loud chattering song, which it repeats at short intervals.

A nest of this species from Fort Yukon (Smith. Coll., 13,346), obtained May 20, by Mr. McDougal, contained four eggs. These varied from .60 to .63 of an inch in length, and from .45 to .49 in breadth. They were obovate in shape, their ground-color was a pure white; this was finely sprinkled round the larger end with brownish-red and lilac. No mention is made of the position of the nest, but it is probable this bird builds on the ground.

Myiodioctes pusillus, var. pileolatus, Ridgway

Motacilla pileolata, Pallas, Zoög. Rosso Asiat. I, 1831, 497 (Russian America). Myiodioctes pusillus, var. pileolata, Ridgway, Report U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Myiodioctes pusillus, Auct. (all citations from Pacific coast of North and Middle America).—Lord, Pr. R. Art. Inst. Woolw. IV, 1864, 115 (Br. Col.).—Dall & Bannister (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 101.

Sp. Char. Similar to var. pusillus, but much richer yellow, scarcely tinged with olive laterally, and deepened into an almost orange shade on the front and chin. Above much brighter and more yellowish olive-green. The black pileum with a brighter steel-blue gloss. Bill much narrower, and deep, light brown above, instead of nearly black. Measures (4,222 ♂, San Francisco, Cal.), wing, 2.15; tail, 2.00.

Hab. Pacific coast region of North America, from Kodiak (Alaska); south through Western Mexico (and Lower California) to Costa Rica.

This is an appreciably different race from that inhabiting the eastern division of the continent; the differences, tested by a large series of specimens, being very constant.

A Costa-Rican specimen before me is almost exactly like specimens from California.

Habits. The remarks, in the preceding article relative to specimens from the Pacific coast belong to this variety.

Myiodioctes canadensis, Aud

CANADA FLYCATCHER

Muscicapa canadensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 327. (Muscicapa canadensis cinerea, Brisson, II, 406, tab. 39, fig. 4.)—Gmelin.—Wilson, III, pl. xxvi, fig. 2.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. ciii. Setophaga can. Swains.; Rich.; Gray. Myiodioctes can. Aud. Birds Am. II, pl. ciii.—Brewer, Pr. Bost. Soc. VI, 5 (nest and eggs).—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1854, 111 (Ecuador; winter); 1855, 143 (Bogota); 1858, 451 (Ecuador).—Ib. Catal. 1861, 34, No. 204.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, 1862.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 294; Rev. 239.—Samuels, 247. Euthlypis can. Cab. Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 18; Jour. Orn. 1860, 326 (Costa Rica). Sylvia pardalina, Bon.; Nutt. Sylvicola pardalina, Bon. Myiodioctes pardalina, Bon. ? Muscicapa bonapartei, Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 27, pl. v. Setophaga bon. Rich. Wilsonia bon. Bon. Sylvania bon. Nutt. ? Myiodioctes bon. Aud. Syn.—Ib. Birds Am. II, 1841, 17, pl. xvii.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 295. Setophaga nigricincta, Lafr. Rev. Zoöl. 1843, 292; 1844, 79.

Sp. Char. Upper part bluish-ash; a ring around the eye, with a line running to the nostrils, and the whole under part (except the tail-coverts, which are white), bright yellow. Centres of the feathers in the anterior half of the crown, the cheeks, continuous with a line on the side of the neck to the breast, and a series of spots across the forepart of the breast, black. Tail-feathers unspotted. Female similar, with the black of the head and breast less distinct. In the Young obsolete. Length, 5.34; wing, 2.67; tail, 2.50.