Chapter XX: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (11)

No one of our common birds possesses more strongly marked characteristics of manners and habits than this species. Its pugnacious disposition during the breeding-season, the audacious boldness with which it will attack any birds larger than itself, the persistent tenacity with which it will continue these attacks, and the reckless courage with which it will maintain its unequal warfare, are well-known peculiarities of this interesting and familiar species. Its name, Kingbird, is given it on the supposition that it is superior to all other birds in these contests. My own observations lead me to the conclusion that writers have somewhat exaggerated the quarrelsome disposition of this bird. I have never, or very rarely, known it to molest or attack any other birds than those which its own instinct prompts it to drive away in self-defence, such as Hawks, Owls, Eagles, Crows, Jays, Cuckoos, and Grakles. These it will always attack and drive off to quite a distance from their nests. Nothing can be more striking than the intrepidity with which one of these birds will pounce upon and harass birds vastly larger and more powerful than itself. The Kingbird is always prompt to perceive the approach of one of these enemies, and always rushes out to meet it. Mounting in the air high above, it pounces down upon its back, upon which it will even rest, furiously pecking at the exposed flanks of its victim, and only leaving it to descend again and again with the same unrelenting animosity. In these encounters it always comes off conqueror.

Wilson states that his jealous affection for his mate and for his nest and young makes him suspicious of every bird that happens to pass near his residence. But this is not the case in all instances. A pair of these birds nested, in the summer of 1871, and peacefully reared their young, in an apple-tree near my residence, within four feet of the nest of the Baltimore Oriole, and not more than eight or ten feet from the nest of a Robin, all in the same tree. The three pairs were on evident terms of amity and mutual good-will. The male Kingbird kept a sharp lookout for danger from the topmost bough, and seemed to have all under his special guardianship, but showed no disposition to molest or annoy them.

The Purple Martin is said to be the implacable enemy of the Kingbird, and one of the few birds with which the latter maintains an unequal contest. Its superiority in flight gives the former great advantages, while its equal courage and strength render it more than a match. Audubon relates an instance in which the Kingbird was slain in one of these struggles.

Wilson also narrates an encounter, of which he was an eyewitness, between one of this species and a Red-headed Woodpecker, in which the latter, while clinging on the rail of a fence, seemed to amuse itself with the violence of the Kingbird, playing bo-peep with it round the rail, while the latter became greatly irritated, and made repeated but vain attempts to strike at him.

The Kingbird feeds almost exclusively upon winged insects, and consumes a vast number. It is on this account one of our most useful birds, but, unfortunately for its popularity, it is no respecter of kinds, and destroys large numbers of bees. In districts where hives of honey-bees abound, the Kingbird is not in good repute. Wilson suggests that they only destroy the drones, and rarely, if ever, meddle with the working bees. But this discrimination, even if real, is not appreciated by the raisers of bees, who regard this bird as their enemy.

The Kingbirds arrive in Pennsylvania the latter part of April, and in New England early in May, and leave for the South in September. They nest in May, selecting an upper branch, usually of an isolated tree, and often in an exposed situation. Their nests are large, broad, and comparatively shallow, and coarsely, though strongly, made of rude materials, such as twigs, withered plants, bits of rags, strings, etc. These are lined with fine rootlets, horse-hair, and fine grasses.

The Kingbird has no song, but, instead, utters an incessant monotonous succession of twitterings, which vary in sharpness and loudness with the emotions that prompt them.

The flight of the Kingbird when on the hunt for insects is peculiar and characteristic. It flies slowly over the field, with rapid vibrations of the wings, in the manner of Hawks, and soars or seems to float in the air in a manner equally similar. At other times it flies with great rapidity, and dives about in the air in the manner of a Swallow. It also exhibits great power and rapidity of flight when rushing forth to encounter a Hawk or an Eagle.

As they are known occasionally to plunge into the water, and, emerging thence, to resume their seat on a high branch, to dry and dress their plumage, it has been conjectured that they feed on small fish, but this is unsupported by any positive evidence.

Though the Kingbird usually builds in trees, it does not always select such situations. In the summer of 1851, passing over a bridge near the village of Aylesford, in Nova Scotia, I observed a Kingbird fly from a nest built on the projecting end of one of the planks of which the bridge was made. So remarkably exposed a position, open to view, and on a level with and within a few feet of a highway, must be quite unusual.

The eggs of this bird are five, sometimes six, in number, and vary considerably in size. Their ground-color is white with a more or less decided roseate tinge, beautifully spotted with blotches and markings of purple, brown, and red-brown. In some, these are disposed in a confluent crown around the larger end; in others they are irregularly distributed over the entire egg. In length they vary from 1.05 to .86 of an inch, and in breadth from .72 to .70 of an inch.

Tyrannus dominicensis, RICH.

GRAY KINGBIRD.

_Tyrannus dominicensis_, BRISSON, Ois. II, 1760, 394, pl. xxxviii.
fig. 2.—RICH. List, 1837.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 172.
_Lanius tyrannus_, var. β, _dominicensis_, GMELIN,
Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 302. _Muscicapa dominicensis_, AUD. Orn.
Biog. II, 1834, 392, pl. xlvi.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840, 201,
pl. lv. _Melittarchus dominicensis_, CABANIS, Journal für
Ornith. III, Nov. 1855, 478. _Tyrannus griseus_, VIEILLOT, Ois.
Am. Sept. I, 1807, 76, pl. xlvi.—SWAINSON, Mon. Shrikes,
Quart. Jour. XX, 1826, 276.—BP. Consp. 1850, 192 (Bonaparte
makes two species).—SCL. List, 1862, 236. _Tyrannus
matutinus_, VIEILL. De La Sagra, pl. xiv.

SP. CHAR. Bill very large and stout. Tail conspicuously forked. Wings long; the first six quills attenuated abruptly, much longer than the seventh. Tertials much developed, nearly intermediate in length between the longest primaries and the shortest secondary. Above, and on the sides of the head and neck, ash-gray, shaded in places with brown, which forms the middle portion of each feather. Downy portion at the base of each feather above light ash, then light brown, tipped and edged with darker ash-gray. The mottled appearance is caused by the brown showing from under the feathers; the ear-coverts darker. A concealed colored patch on the crown, formed by the base of the feathers, white before and behind, orange in the middle. Lower parts grayish-white, tinged with ash across the breast, deepest anteriorly. Sides of the breast similar to, but lighter than, the back. Under wing-coverts and axillars pale sulphur-yellow. The wings brown, darker to the tips; the secondaries narrowly, the tertials more broadly, edged with dull white. Edges of the coverts paler. Alula dark brown. Tail similar in color to the quills. Upper tail-coverts brown. Bill and feet black. Length, 8.00; wing, 4.65; tail, 4.00; tarsus, .76.

_Young._ Lesser wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts distinctly bordered with pale ochraceous; tail-feathers bordered all round with a deeper shade of the same. No colored patch on the crown.

HAB. South Carolina coast, accidental; Florida Keys and West Indies; Nicaragua; New Granada; Santa Cruz (NEWTON, Ibis I, 146, eggs); Carthagena, N. G. (CASS. P. A. N. S. 1860, 143); Cuba (CAB. J. III, 478, breeds; GUNDL. Rep. 1865, 238, “_Mel. griseus_”); Jamaica (GOSSE, B. J. 169, breeds; MARCH, P. A. N. S. 1863, 287); St. Thomas (CASS. P. A. N. S. 1860, 375); Sombrero (LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1864, 99, “_griseus_”); Greytown, Nicar. (LAWR. Ann. 183); Sta. Bartholemy (SUND. 1869, 584); Massachusetts (MAYNARD, B. E. Mass. 1870, 124).

This species, though about the same size as the _T. carolinensis_, is much more powerfully built, the bill and feet being much stronger, the former considerably longer than the head, and as large as that of _Saurophagus sulphuratus_, though less compressed.

Specimens from Nicaragua and New Granada appear to be almost perfectly identical with those from Florida and the West Indies, differing only in being just appreciably smaller, which, however, might be expected from their more southern habitat.

HABITS. The Gray Kingbird—the Pipiry Flycatcher of Audubon, or Gray Petchary of Jamaica—is, except in Florida, of scarcely more than occasional occurrence within the limits of the United States. A single specimen has been taken in Massachusetts. This was shot in Lynn, October 23, 1868, and was in immature plumage. The bird was shot on a tree near one of the streets of that city by Mr. Charles Goodall. Mr. Audubon also found these birds quite common on the Florida Keys, almost every Key, however small, having its pair. A pair was observed breeding in the college yard at Charleston, S. C., by Dr. Bachman; and for at least three years in succession they regularly returned each year, and raised two broods in a season. This Flycatcher is abundant in St. Croix, Cuba, Jamaica, and in the other West India Islands. In the first-named locality Mr. Alfred Newton found it one of the most conspicuous and commonest birds over the entire island. Its favorite station, he states, was the top of the spearlike unexpanded frond of a tall mountain-cabbage tree, from which place, in the breeding-season, it darted down to attack almost any animal that passed near. Its favorite object of attack was the Green Heron (_Butorides virescens_), at which it would make several well-directed swoops, never leaving it until it had driven it into some shelter, when, much pleased with its prowess, it would return to its lookout station and celebrate its victory with cries of triumph. On one occasion Mr. Newton observed a Gray Kingbird pursue a Green Heron out to sea for a quarter of a mile and back. It is described as a very clamorous bird, even when there is apparently no need; taking alarm from the domestic poultry, its oft-repeated notes were heard every morning before the dawn. This noise it continued pertinaciously till sundown. Its food consists of insects, which are caught with great dexterity on the wing. It also feeds very largely on the black berries of a myrtle-leaved parasite that grows abundantly on the orange-trees. The nest is often placed under the fronds or among the spathes of a cocoanut or mountain-cabbage tree, and sometimes in any ordinary situation. It is described as flat in construction and large for the size of the bird, being nearly a foot in diameter, composed of a platform of twigs, in the midst of which is hollowed a cup lined with fine roots. In St. Croix the eggs rarely exceeded three in number, and are spoken of as exceedingly beautiful when fresh, of a delicate creamy white, marked at the larger end with blotches and spots of pink or orange-brown, often disposed in a zone. He found their eggs from May till August.

Mr. Richard Hill, of Spanishtown, Jamaica, in some interesting notes furnished to Mr. Gosse, states that along the seaside savannas of that island migrant flocks of these birds swarm early in September. Numbers then congregate on the trees around the cattle ponds and about the open meadows, pursuing the swarms of insects which fill the air at sundown. These throngs are immediately joined by resident birds of this species, which gather about the same places, and do not return to their usual abodes until the breeding-season is at hand.

The Jamaica bird is not exclusively an insect-feeder, but eats very freely of the sweet wild berries, especially those of the pimento. These ripen in September, and in groves of these this bird may always be found in abundance. By the end of September most of the migrant birds have left the island.

This is among the earliest to breed of the birds of Jamaica. As early as January the mated pair is said to be in possession of some lofty tree, sounding at day-dawn a ceaseless shriek, which is composed of a repetition of three or four notes, sounding like _pē-chēē-ry_, according to Mr. Hill, and from which they derive their local name. In these localities they remain until autumn, when they quit these haunts and again congregate about the lowland ponds. In feeding, just before sunset, they usually sit, eight or ten in a row, on some exposed twig, darting from it in pursuit of their prey, and returning to it to devour whatever they have caught. They are rapid in their movements, ever constantly and hurriedly changing their positions in flight. As they fly, they are able to check their speed suddenly, and to turn at the smallest imaginable angle. At times they move off in a straight line, gliding with motionless wings from one tree to another. When one descends to pick an insect from the surface of the water, it has the appearance of tumbling, and, in rising again, ascends with a singular motion of the wings, as if hurled into the air and endeavoring to recover itself.

In the manner in which the male of this species will perch on the top of some lofty tree, and from that vantage-height scream defiance to all around him, and pursue any large bird that approaches, as described by Mr. Hill, all the audacity and courage of our Kingbird is exhibited. At the approach of a Vulture or a Hawk, he starts off in a horizontal line, after rising in the air to the same height as his adversary, and, hovering over him for a moment, descends upon the intruder’s back, rising and sinking as he repeats his attack, and shrieking all the while. In these attacks he is always triumphant.

This Flycatcher is also charged by Mr. Hill with seizing upon the Humming-Birds as they hover over the blossoms in the garden, killing its prey by repeated blows struck on the branch, and then devouring them.

The nest, according to Mr. Hill, is seldom found in any other tree than that of the palm kind. Among the web of fibres around the footstalk of each branch the nest is woven of cotton-wool and grass. The eggs, he adds, are four or five, of an ivory color, blotched with deep purple spots, intermingled with brown specks, the clusters thickening at the greater end. Mr. Gosse, on the contrary, never found the nest in a palm. One, taken from an upper limb of a bitterwood-tree that grew close to a friend’s door, at no great height, was a cup made of the stalks and tendrils of a small passion flower, the spiral tendrils very prettily arranged around the edge, and very neatly and thickly lined with black horse-hair. The other, made in a spondias bush, was a rather loose structure, smaller and less compact, almost entirely composed of tendrils, with no horse-hair, but a few shining black frond-ribs of a fern.

Mr. March states that the migrant birds of this species return to Jamaica about the last of March, gradually disperse, and, like the resident birds, occupy their selected trees in solitary pairs, and immediately set about preparing their nests. At St. Catharine’s the first nest found was on the 14th of April, and the latest in the middle of July. They seldom build in the tree in which they perch, but select a lower tree near it. Some make their nests high, others low, usually at the extremity of a lateral branch. He describes them as loose structures of twigs and the stems of trailing plants, with the cup of grass, horse-hair, and vegetable fibre. The eggs are three, rarely four, of a long oval, with a ground of light cream-color, dashed around the larger end more or less thickly with blotches of burnt sienna, and with cloudings of pale bistre underneath.

Mr. Audubon states that this Flycatcher reaches the Florida Keys about the first of April. He describes their usual flight as performed by a constant flutter of the wings, except when in chase, when they exhibit considerable power and speed. He noticed them pursue larger birds, such as Herons, Crows, Cuckoos, Grakles, and Hawks, following them quite a distance. They did not molest the Doves. They built their nests in a manner similar to the Kingbird, on the horizontal branches of the mangrove, almost invariably on the western side of the tree and of the island. Some were not more than two feet above the water, others were twenty feet. On one of the keys, although of small size, he saw several of their nests, and more than a dozen of the birds living amicably together.

Dr. J. G. Cooper, who visited Florida in the spring of 1859, informed me, by letter, on his return, that when he reached Cape Florida, March 8, none of this species were to be seen on any of the keys. The first he noticed were about the first of May, near Fort Dallas on the mainland. As, however, it rarely appears at this place, he supposes they reached the keys some weeks sooner. About May 14 he found several pairs at the Cape, and, going up the coast to New Smyrna, he found them abundant about the marshy islands. On the first of June, with a companion, he went in a small boat for the express purpose of finding their nests; and, pushing the boat about among the islands which almost filled Mosquito Lagoon, he discovered three in one afternoon. They were all built among the small branches of low dead mangrove-trees, about ten feet from the ground, formed of a loose, open flooring of small twigs, with scarcely any lining of a finer material. One contained four eggs half hatched, another three young and one egg, the third four young just hatched. He preserved one nest and all the eggs, and presented them to the National Museum in Washington. The old birds showed no resentment, and neither came near nor followed him, differing very much in this respect from the fearless and devoted Kingbird. The only notes this bird was heard to utter were loud and harsh rattling cries. Dr. Bachman informed Dr. Cooper that these birds had become quite regular summer visitants of Charleston, where they continued to breed each season. Dr. Cooper saw none away from the Florida coast, and thinks that none go inland.

The eggs of this species measure from 1 to 1.05 inches in length, and from .70 to .72 of an inch in breadth. They are of an oblong oval shape, variously marked with large blotches and smaller spots of purple, red-brown, and a dark purplish-brown. The latter color, in a few cases, is found in large masses, covering nearly a fifth of the entire surface of the egg; not inaptly compared by Mr. Gosse to the sinuous outlines of lands, as represented on a terrestrial globe.

Tyrannus verticalis, SAY.

ARKANSAS FLYCATCHER.

_Tyrannus verticalis_, SAY, Long’s Exped. II, 1823, 60.—NUTTALL,
Man. II, (2d ed.,) 1840, 306.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
173.—SCL. Catal. 1862, 235.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 113
(Br. Col.).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 168.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
312. _Muscicapa verticalis_, BONAP. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 18, pl.
xi.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 422, pl. ccclix.—IB. Birds Am.
I, 1840, 199, pl. liv. _Laphyctes verticalis_, CABAN. Mus.
Hein. II, 1859, 77.—HEERM. X. _S_, 37.

SP. CHAR. The four exterior quills attenuated very gently at the end, the first most so; third and fourth quills longest, second and fifth successively a little shorter. Tail slightly forked; bill shorter than the head. Crown, sides of head above the eyes, nape, and sides of neck pale lead-color, or ash-gray; a concealed crest on the crown, vermilion in the centre, and yellowish before and behind. Hind neck and back ash-gray, strongly tinged with light olivaceous-green, the gray turning to brown on the rump; upper tail-coverts nearly black, lower dusky; chin and part of ear-coverts dull white; throat and upper part of breast similar to the head, but lighter, and but slightly contrasted with the chin; rest of lower parts, with the under wing-coverts and axillars, yellow, deepening to gamboge on the belly, tinged with olivaceous on the breast. Wing brown, the coverts with indistinct ashy margins; secondaries and tertials edged with whitish; inner webs of primaries whitish towards the base. Tail nearly black above and glossy, duller brownish beneath; without olivaceous edgings. Exterior feather, with the outer web and the shaft, yellowish-white; inner edge of latter brown. Tips of remaining feathers paler. Bill and feet dark brown. _Female_ rather smaller and colors less bright. Length of male, 8.25; wing about 4.50.

HAB. Western North America, from the high Central Plains to the Pacific; Colima, Mexico. Accidental in Eastern States (New Jersey, TURNBULL; Plymton, Maine, Oct. 1865, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc., X, 1865, 96).

The young bird is, in general, quite similar, with the exception of the usual appearance of immaturity, the colored patch on the crown wanting. In one specimen the first primary only is attenuated, in others none exhibit this character.

A specimen of this bird, shot at Moorestown, N. J., is in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy, but this locality can only be considered as very exceptional.

HABITS. The Arkansas Flycatcher was first discovered by the party in Long’s Expedition in 1823, and described by Mr. Say. It is a bird of western North America, found from the great plains to the Pacific, and only accidentally occurring east. A single specimen is said to have been shot in Moorestown, N. J., near Philadelphia. It has been met with in Texas as far east as the river Mimbres, and in Nebraska nearly to the Missouri River. The specimen from which the first description was made was obtained in the beginning of July, near the Platte River.

Mr. Nuttall, in his Western tour, first met with this species early in July, among the scanty wood on the banks of the northwest branch of the Platte River. He characterizes it as a bold and querulous bird. He found it all the way from thence to the forests of the Columbia and the Wahlamet, and throughout California to latitude 32°. He speaks of them as remarkably noisy and quarrelsome with each other, and, like the Kingbird, suffering nothing of the bird kind to approach them without exhibiting their predilection for dispute. He describes their note as a discordant, clicking warble, resembling _tsh’k-tsh’k-tshivait_,—sounding not unlike the creaking of a rusty door-hinge, something in the manner of a Kingbird, with a blending of the notes of the common Purple Grakle.

Mr. Townsend mentions finding this bird numerous along the banks of the Platte, particularly in the vicinity of trees. From that river to the banks of the Columbia, and as far as the ocean, it was a very common species. The males were wonderfully belligerent, fighting almost constantly and with great fury.

Dr. J. G. Cooper states that in California this is an abundant species, arriving in that State about the 20th of March. None are known to remain within the State during the winter. Small parties of males come first, and are very quarrelsome until each one has selected its mate. This is not done for several weeks, and the earliest nest with eggs that he has found was on the 12th of May at Santa Barbara. The nest, built on a branch of a low oak near the town, was five inches wide, constructed of lichens, twigs, coarse grass, and wool, lined with hair. It contained four eggs, measuring .94 by .70 of an inch. He describes them as creamy-white, spotted with purple of two shades near the larger end.

These birds are said to be almost an exact counterpart of the Kingbird, exhibiting the same courage in defence of their nests. Their notes are more varied and noisy, and they utter them almost constantly during the spring, often when flying and fighting. They are very destructive to bees, but compensate for this damage by destroying great quantities of noxious insects. They leave the State in October. At Puget Sound, early in June, Dr. Cooper found this species associating with the common Kingbird without any signs of disagreement, though their similar habits would naturally lead to disputes. He has even seen them together in parties of four about the period of mating. They do not approach the coast in Washington Territory.

Dr. Suckley found this species abundant in the central and western portions of Oregon and Washington Territory. He first noted their arrival from the South about May 15. The first notification of their presence is given by the skirmishes and quarrels incident to the love-season. Their battles are generally fought in the air, and present ludicrous alternations of pursuit and flight. At Fort Dalles their favorite breeding-places were oak-trees for the most part.

Mr. Charles D. Gibbes, of Stockton, informs us that these birds occasionally build their nests in the shrubbery about the gardens, but more frequently in large oak-trees, fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. They are constructed of weeds and grass firmly woven together, and lined with cotton, feathers, strings, and other soft materials. They are usually secured to the limb on which they are placed by a portion of the string. The diameter of the cavity of the nest is about three inches, depth one and a half. Their eggs are laid in May and June, and are four, five, or six in number. They are described as white, marked with dark brown spots on the larger end. In some the spots, decreasing in size, extend to the smaller end.

Dr. Hoy informs me that he has never detected this bird within the limits of Wisconsin, though he has no doubt that they may occasionally straggle into its limits, as have many of the birds peculiar to the Missouri region.

Mr. Ridgway gives it as one of the most abundant and familiar of the _Tyrannidæ_ in the Sacramento Valley and the fertile portions of the Great Basin. He notes their excessively quarrelsome disposition, which far exceeds that of the eastern Kingbird, for fighting among themselves seems to be their chief amusement. As many as half a dozen of these birds were sometimes noticed pitching at one another promiscuously, in their playful combats; and when a nest was disturbed, the cries of the parents invariably brought to the vicinity all the birds of this species in the neighborhood, which, as soon as gathered together, began their aerial battles by attacking each other without regard apparently to individuals, accompanying the fight by a shrill twitter, very different from the loud rattling notes of the _T. carolinensis_. Indeed, all the notes of the western Kingbird are very conspicuously different from those of the eastern species, being weaker, and more twittering in their character. The nesting habits, the construction of the nest, and appearance of the eggs, are, however, almost perfectly identical.

Mr. Ridgway gives an interesting account (Am. Nat., Aug., 1869) of a young bird of this species which became quite domesticated with his party in the geological survey of the 40th parallel. It had been taken about the middle of July, fully fledged, from the nest, by some Indians, and was fed with grasshoppers and flies until able to catch them for itself. When not in quest of food it remained quietly perched on Mr. Ridgway’s shoulder or his hat, or would perch on a rope extending from the top of the tent to a stake. At night it frequently roosted under an umbrella which hung outside of the tent. If permitted, it would have preferred to keep on its master’s shoulder, snuggling against his neck. In the morning it was sure to come fluttering about his head, singling him out from a dozen or more persons who lay around upon the ground. It had an insatiable appetite, and was ascertained by actual count to consume one hundred and twenty fat grasshoppers in a day. It soon learned its own name, Chippy, and always answered to the call. It followed Mr. Ridgway when on horseback, occasionally leaving to sport with other birds, but always returning to his shoulder or hat. It evidently preferred the society of the camp to that of his own race. It was once, by accident, nearly shot, and ever after held the gun in great dread. It went with Mr. Ridgway from camp to camp, continuing perfectly tame and domesticated, until, as was supposed, it fell a prey to a Hawk.

The eggs of this species are not easily distinguishable from those of the common Kingbird. They have a ground-color of a crystalline whiteness, marked with bold dashes of reddish and purplish brown, the latter fewer and faint. They are oblong in shape, are pointed at one end, and measure 1 inch in length by .70 of an inch in breadth.

Tyrannus vociferans, SWAINSON.

CASSIN’S FLYCATCHER.

_Tyrannus vociferans_, SWAINSON, Mon. Tyrant Shrikes in Quarterly
Journal Sc. XX, Jan. 1826, 273.—IB. Philos. Mag. I, 1827,
368.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 174, pl. xlviii.—IB. M. B. II,
Birds 8, pl. x.—SCL. Catal. 1862, 235.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 314. _Laphyctes vociferans_, CABAN. Mus. Hein. II, 77.
_Tyrannus cassini_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. N. H. V, 1852,
39, pl. iii, fig. 2 (Texas).

SP. CHAR. Bill from the forehead about as long as the head. Tail even or slightly rounded. Outer five primaries attenuated; the first four abruptly and deeply emarginated; third quill longest, second and fourth a little less, first shorter than the sixth, and half an inch less than the longest. Head and neck above and on the sides rather dark bluish-ash; the throat and breast similar, and only a little paler. Rest of upper parts olive-green tinged with gray, mixed with brown on the rump; the upper tail-coverts and surface of the tail nearly black; the outer web of the external feather and the tips of all pale brown. The chin is white, in strong contrast to the dark ash of the throat; the rest of the under parts bright sulphur-yellow (the sides olivaceous), palest on the under tail-coverts and inside of wing. A concealed vermilion patch in the crown, bordered by straw-yellow. Wing-feathers brown, tinged with olive, becoming paler towards the edge. Length, 8.80; wing, 5.25; tail, 4.25.

HAB. Valley of Gila and southern California, eastward to Pecos River, Texas, and into Mexico, on table-lands; north along the Plains to Fort Laramie, south to Costa Rica. Oaxaca (SCL. P. Z. S. 1859, 383); Vera Paz (SCL. Ibis I, 121); W. Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 59); Vera Cruz, hot and temp. regions, and Plateau (SUM. M. Bost. Soc. I, 557.)

The table of specific characters presented under the generic head will readily serve to distinguish this species from its near ally, _T. verticalis_. The white outer web of the exterior tail-feather in _verticalis_, compared with the brown web, only edged with whitish of the present bird, is always sufficient to separate them; while the deep ash of the jugulum, and the much lighter, more brownish shade of the wings, are entirely peculiar features.

HABITS. This bird is abundant in Vera Cruz, where it is known by the name of _Portuguéz_. According to Sumichrast, it belongs to the hot and temperate regions, rather than the alpine. It is also common in the Plateau, and is found in all parts of Mexico.

In Arizona Dr. Coues states this bird to be an abundant summer resident, arriving in that Territory during the third week in April, and remaining until the latter part of September. It was found in every kind of locality. He furnishes no information as to its habits.

During the Mexican Boundary Survey this species was taken on the Colorado River, in California, by Dr. A. Schott, and at Los Nogales, Mexico, by Dr. Kennerly. It was also met with in the Sacramento Valley by Dr. Heermann; at Fort Thorn, New Mexico, by Dr. Henry; on the Pecos, Texas, by Captain Pope; and specimens from Mexico have been received from Mr. Gould. It does not appear to have been observed in Southwestern Texas by Mr. Dresser.

This species Dr. Cooper states to be quite common throughout the southern half of California, and resident throughout the year at least as far north as Los Angeles. In color they greatly resemble the _T. verticalis_, but are less lively and not so quarrelsome in their habits. During the early part of the year they begin to sing by daylight, generally from the top of some high tree. Their notes are said to be loud and much more musical than those of the other species, and their song exhibits considerable variety for a bird of this family. During the middle of the day they are rather quiet, and sit much of the time on their perch, occasionally catching an insect that comes very near, but they are supposed by Dr. Cooper to feed mostly in the very early morning. This observer found them breeding at San Diego as early as March 28, as well as subsequently. Their nest is said to be much larger and more firmly built than are those of others of the genus, being five and a half inches in external diameter and about two and a half in height. The cavity is three inches wide at the rim. The eggs, which he describes as white, with large scattered reddish-brown and umber blotches, measure .96 of an inch in length and .70 in breadth. He found some of these birds in Santa Clara Valley in May, 1864. They appeared to be smaller and greener on the back than those from the South. They winter in large numbers at Santa Clara, in latitude 37°.

Dr. Coues found this a very abundant summer resident at Fort Whipple, breeding there in considerable numbers, and all leaving early in October.

Mr. Ridgway did not meet with this species anywhere in the Great Basin, nor in the Sacramento Valley. On the plains it is found as far north as Cheyenne and Laramie Peak, and in the southern portion of the Western Provinces extends westward to California.

Specimens were obtained by Mr. George M. Skinner from Salamá, Vera Paz, in Central America. It was also taken, in February, near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard.

A nest of this bird (No. 1,828), in the Smithsonian Museum, was taken at Volcan de Colima, June, 1863, by Mr. John Xantus. It is a slight structure composed chiefly of wiry grass, mixed with bits of wool, and lined with finer grasses. The eggs are two in number, having a pure-white ground, freckled on the larger end with purplish-brown and grayish-lilac. These markings are more sparse and are finer than those of the eggs of any other species of this genus, so far as I am aware. One of the eggs has a few blotches of umber on the larger end. They measure, one .93 by .68 of an inch, the other .93 by .65.

Tyrannus melancholicus, var. couchi, BAIRD.

COUCH’S KINGBIRD.

_Tyrannus couchi_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 175, pl. xlix, f.
1.—SCL. Catal. Am. B. 1862, 235.

SP. CHAR. Bill long as the head. Feet stout. Five outer primaries abruptly attenuated at the end; the third and fourth longest; the first a little longer than the sixth. Tail considerably forked (depth of fork about .30 of an inch, or more). Head, neck, and jugulum bluish-ashy, becoming nearly white on the throat, and shaded with yellow on the breast. Rest of lower parts gamboge-yellow. Rest of upper parts olive-green, tinged with ash anteriorly. Tail and primaries grayish-brown, the tail not the darker. Wing-coverts passing externally into pale, the tertials edged with almost white. Crown with a concealed patch of bright orange-red. Length, 9.00; wing, 5.00; tail, 4.70.

HAB. Middle America (both coasts), from southern border of United States, south to Guatemala; Tucson, Arizona (BENDIRE).

All specimens of _T. melancholicus_ from regions north of Guatemala are referrible to var. _couchi_; all from Costa Rica southward, to _melancholicus_.

It is only by comparing specimens from near the extreme northern and southern limits of the range of the species, that differences are readily discernible; and between these two extremes there is so gradual a transition that it is impossible to draw a line separating two well-marked varieties, so that it is necessary to assume an arbitrary geographical line, and determine specimens from the middle regions by their position, whether to the north or south of the line established. Specimens from Buenos Ayres, the Parana, and Brazil, to Peru and New Granada, are identical. Costa Rica specimens (_T. satrapa_, LICHT.) have the dark tail of var. _melancholicus_ and white throat of _couchi_.

GENUS MYIARCHUS, CABANIS.

_Myiarchus_, CABANIS, Fauna Peruana, 1844-46, 152.—BURMEISTER,
Thiere Brasiliens, II, Vögel, 1856, 469.

GEN. CHAR. Tarsus equal to or not longer than the middle toe, which is decidedly longer than the hinder one. Bill wider at base than half the culmen. Tail broad, long, even, or slightly rounded, about equal to the wings, which scarcely reach the middle of the tail; the first primary shorter than the sixth. Head with elongated lanceolate distinct feathers. Above brownish-olive, throat ash, belly yellow. Tail and wing feathers varied with rufous.

This genus is well marked among the American Flycatchers, and constitutes what Bonaparte called _Ultimi Tyrannorum sive Tyrannularum primæ_. The type is the _Muscicapa ferox_ of Gmelin, (_M. tyrannulus_,) which, as identified by Cabanis and Burmeister as above, appears to resemble our species very closely.

[Line drawing: _Myiarchus mexicanus._
1449]

For an elaborate discussion of the various forms of this exceedingly difficult genus, we are indebted to a recent monograph by Dr. Coues, in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, for June and July, 1872 (pp. 56-81). With the same material for our investigations, we have been led, after a very careful perusal of the valuable paper mentioned, and tedious critical comparison of the large material at our command, to adopt a somewhat difficult view of the relationship of the forms characterized. The following synopsis expresses their affinity as at present understood:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above olivaceous, usually uniform, sometimes darker, sometimes more ashy, on the head above. Head and jugulum more or less ashy, though the latter is sometimes very pale. Rest of lower parts sulphur-yellow, sometimes almost or quite white. Primaries, secondaries, and rectrices usually more or less edged on either web with rufous; but sometimes entirely destitute of this color.

Species and Varieties.

A. Bill sub-conical; sometimes nearly terete, its depth
equal to, or exceeding, its breadth in the middle portion;
its lateral outlines moderately divergent basally;
terminal hook abrupt, strong. (_Myionax._)

1. M. tyrannulus. No trace of rufous edgings on either
wings or tail. Above ashy-olive, the pileum similar, the
outer webs of wing-coverts and secondaries edged with
whitish. Head, laterally and beneath, ashy, the throat
and jugulum more whitish; rest of lower parts
sulphur-yellow. Tail slightly rounded.

Pileum and nape umber-brown; upper surface
umber-grayish. Bill dark brown. Wing, 3.50-3.70; tail,
3.60-3.90; culmen, .90-.95; tarsus, .80-.90. _Hab._
South and Central America, from Bolivia and Southern
Brazil to Costa Rica var. _tyrannulus_.[66]

Whole head and neck pure ash, paler on the throat, and
darker on the pileum; upper surface greenish-ash. Bill
black. Wing, 3.70; tail, 4.00; culmen, .82; tarsus,
.91. _Hab._ Ecuador and Guayaquil var. _phæocephalus_.[67]

2. M. validus.[68] All the wing-coverts, tertials,
secondaries, primaries, and rectrices distinctly edged
with rufous (the latter on both webs). Above olivaceous,
more ashy anteriorly; the upper tail-coverts more
rufescent; remiges broadly rufous on exterior edges;
rectrices with the whole inner web (except a narrow
streak along the shaft) and edge of outer web rufous.
Head beneath, and entire throat and breast, deep ash;
rest of lower parts sulphur-yellow, the junction of the
two colors not well defined. Wing, 3.80-4.20; tail,
3.80-4.20; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, .80-91; tail even;
third and fourth quill longest. _Hab._ Jamaica.

3. M. crinitus. Outer webs of primaries distinctly edged
with rufous (no other rufous on wings); inner webs of
rectrices broadly, sometimes entirely, rufous, none on
outer webs (except in young). Above olivaceous, varying
from a greenish to an ashy cast, the pileum more
brownish. Wing-coverts (both rows) broadly tipped with
brownish ashy-whitish; tertials, secondaries, and
lateral tail-feather broadly edged on outer web with the
same. Head laterally and beneath ashy paler on the
throat and jugulum; rest of lower parts delicate yellow,
varying from a rich lemon to a pale sulphur tint. _Hab._
Continental America.

Bill dark brown (never black). Upper parts decidedly
greenish; ash of throat and jugulum, and yellow of
abdomen, etc., very deep.

Inner webs of rectrices wholly rufous, or with only
a narrow strip of dusky along the shaft. Wing,
3.75-4.25; tail, 3.75-4.20; culmen, .95-1.00;
tarsus, .85-.90. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America; in winter south through Eastern Mexico to
Guatemala (grading into var. _irritabilis_ in
Nicaragua) var. _crinitus_.

Bill deep black; upper parts without a greenish, but,
instead, an ashy-brownish cast; ash of throat and
jugulum, and yellow of abdomen, etc., very pale.

Inner webs of rectrices broadly (but not entirely)
rufous to the extreme tip, with a broad dusky stripe
next the shaft.

Wing, 4.10-4.50; tail, 4.00-4.70; culmen,
1.10-1.20; tarsus, 1.00-1.05. _Hab._ Southern and
Western Mexico (Tehuantepec, Yucatan, Mazatlan,
etc.) var. _cooperi_.[69]

Wing, 3.60-3.90; tail, 3.50-3.75; culmen,
.90-1.00; tarsus, .80-.85. _Hab._ Eastern South
America, and Central America, from Paraguay to
Costa Rica (grading into var. _cooperi_ in
Guatemala, and into var. _cinerascens_ in
Tehuantepec) var. _irritabilis_.[70]

Inner webs of rectrices almost entirely rufous to
near the extreme tip, the end of the web, however,
being brownish-dusky like the outer.

Wing, 3.35-4.10; tail, 3.35-4.10; culmen,
.80-1.00; tarsus, .80-.91. _Hab._ Western Province
of United States, and Western Mexico (grading into
var. _irritabilis_ in Tehuantepec, and in winter
migrating into Eastern Mexico) var. _cinerascens_.

4. M. stolidus. Colors essentially nearly as the
varieties of _M. crinitus_. Primaries more or less
distinctly edged with rufous, especially on inner
quills; rectrices with inner webs more or less edged
with rufous (found only terminally in var.
_antillarum_). Wing-coverts broadly tipped with dull
ashy-whitish. Above brownish-slaty, with an olivaceous
cast, the pileum more or less appreciably darker.
Beneath ashy-white, without distinct yellow (except in
var. _stolidus_, in which the abdomen, etc., are pale
sulphury yellow). Tail varying in shape from slightly
rounded to distinctly emarginated. _Hab._ West Indies.

Beneath entirely white, only faintly, or hardly
appreciably, tinged with sulphur-yellow on the flanks.

Inner web of rectrices broadly edged with rufous for
the whole length. Crown scarcely darker than the
back. Tail distinctly emarginated. Wing, 3.15-3.50;
tail, 3.30-3.60; culmen, .85-.95; tarsus, .80-85.
(Bahaman specimens the larger). _Hab._ Bahamas and
Cuba var. _phœbe_.[71]

Inner web of rectrices not edged with rufous except
at extreme tip, where sometimes also absent. Crown
decidedly darker than the back. Tail slightly
rounded. Wing, 3.25-3.50; tail, 3.20-3.60; culmen,
.85-95; tarsus, .85-90. _Hab._ Porto Rico var. _antillarum_.[72]

Beneath white only on throat and jugulum, the abdomen,
etc., being sulphur-yellow.

Inner webs of rectrices more or less distinctly
edged with rufous for whole length. Pileum very much
darker than the back. Wing, 3.35-3.50; tail,
3.35-3.65; culmen, .90-.95; tarsus, .80-.85. Tail
faintly doubly-rounded. _Hab._ Hayti, Jamaica, (and
Yucatan?) var. _stolidus_.[73]

B. Bill much depressed, its depth only about half its
width, in the middle portion; lateral outlines widely
divergent basally; terminal hook weak. (_Myiarchus._)

5. M. tristis. Colors very variable, and amount of
rufous exceedingly different in the different races.
Inner webs of rectrices seldom edged with rufous; rufous
sometimes entirely absent on both wings and tail, and
sometimes the whole wing and both webs of rectrices
distinctly edged with it. Above ashy-olive, usually with
more or less of a greenish cast, the pileum decidedly
darker (except in var. _lawrencei_); throat and jugulum
ashy-white; rest of lower parts sulphur-yellow. _Hab._
Central and South America, and Jamaica.

Pileum sooty-brown, decidedly darker than the back;
wings and tail entirely destitute of rufous edgings,
except a faint tinge on outer webs of inner
secondaries and rectrices, towards the base. Tail
faintly rounded. Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.10; culmen, .80;
tarsus, .65. _Hab._ Jamaica var. _tristis_.[74]

Pileum grayish-brown, not appreciably darker than the
back; outer webs of inner secondaries and primaries
and rectrices faintly edged with rufous. Wing,
2.80-3.40; tail, 2,85-3.45; culmen, .85-.90; tarsus,
.75-.80. _Hab._ Northern Mexico, from northern
boundary, south to Colima, Tehuantepec, Yucatan, and
Salvador var. _lawrencei_.[75]

Pileum sooty-blackish, decidedly and abruptly darker
than the back. Outer webs of wing-coverts, primaries,
secondaries, and rectrices distinctly edged with
rufous. Yellow beneath brighter than in _lawrencei_.
Wing, 3.20-3.30; tail, 3.15-3.30; culmen, .80-.85;
tarsus, .75-.80. _Hab._ Central America from Panama to
Guatemala (grading into var. _lawrencei_ in
Tehuantepec, and Orizaba) var. _nigricapillus_.[76]

Pileum deep black, abruptly different from the
greenish-olive of the back, and separated from it by a
more ashy shade. Wings and tail wholly destitute of
rufous edgings. Yellow beneath brighter than in var.
_nigricapillus_. Wing, 3.20; tail, 3.20; culmen, .85;
tarsus, .78. Tail about even. _Hab._ Northwest South
America, from Ecuador northward (grading into
_nigricapillus_ on Isthmus of Panama) var. _nigriceps_.[77]

[66] _Myiarchus tyrannulus_ (MÜLL.), COUES. _Muscicapa
tyrannulus_, MÜLL. (G. R. GR. Hand List, No. 5,527).
_Myiarchus t._ COUES, P. A. N. S. Phila. July, 1872, 71.
(_M. aurora_, BODD.; _flaviventris_, STEPH.; _ferox_, GM.;
_swainsoni_, CABAN.; _panamensis_, LAWR.; _venezuelensis_,
LAWR.)

[67] _Myiarchus tyrannulus_, var. _phæocephalus_ (SCLATER).
_Myiarchus phæocephalus_, SCL. P. Z. S. 1860, 481.—COUES,
P. A. N. S. 1872, 73.

[68] _Myiarchus validus_, CABANIS. _Tyrannus crinitus_,
GOSSE, B. Jam. 186 (nec Auct.). _Myiarchus validus_, CABAN.
Orn. Nat. II, 351, et Auct. COUES, P. A. N. S. July, 1872,
62.

[69] _Myiarchus crinitus_, var. _cooperi_ (KAUP). BAIRD.
_Tyrannula cooperi_, KAUP. P. Z. S. 1851, 51. _Myiarchus
cooperi_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 180. _Myiarchus
crinitus_, var. _cooperi_, COUES, P. A. N. S. July, 1872,
67.

[70] _Myiarchus crinitus_, var. _irritabilis_ (VIEILL.),
COUES. _Tyrannus irritabilis_, VIEILL. Enc. Meth. 1823, II,
847. _Myiarchus crinitus_, var. _irritabilis_, COUES, P. A.
N. S. July, 1872, 65. (_M. erythrocercus_, SCL.; _M.
mexicanus_, KAUP, LAWR.; _M. yucatanensis_, LAWR.)

_Obs._—It is, perhaps, probable that in Yucatan this race
grades into the _M. stolidus_ (var. _stolidus_), since there
is a specimen in the collection from Merida (39,213, April
9, 1865, A. Schott) which seems to be very nearly
intermediate in every way between the two. It has the very
black hill, restricted rufous on inner webs of rectrices,
and pale yellow of lower parts of _M. stolidus_, and the
brown pileum and more robust proportions of _irritabilis_.
The specimen, however, is in poor condition, being of worn
and faded plumage, and much distorted, so that its true
characters cannot be ascertained satisfactorily.

[71] _Myiarchus stolidus_, var. _phœbe_ (D’ORB.), COUES.
_Tyrannus phœbe_, D’ORB. Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. p. 84.
_Myiarchus stolidus_, var. _phœbe_, COUES, P. A. N. S. July,
1872, 78. (_Sagræ_, GUNDL.; _stolida_, var. _lucaysiensis_,
BRYANT).

[72] _Myiarchus stolidus_, var. _antillarum_ (BRYANT),
COUES. _Tyrannus (Myiarchus) antillarum_, BRYANT, P. B. S.
N. H. 1866, p. 2. _Myiarchus stolidus_, var. _antillarum_,
COUES, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 79.

[73] _Myiarchus stolidus_, var. _stolidus_ (GOSSE), CABANIS.
_Myiobius stolidus_, GOSSE. B. Jam. p. 168. _Myiarchus s._
CABANIS, J. für Orn. 1855, 479.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1872,
77. (_Stolidus_ var. _dominicensis_, BRYANT.)

[74] _Myiarchus tristis_ (GOSSE), COUES. _Myiobius tristis_,
GOSSE, B. Jam. 167, pl. xli. _Myiarchus t._ COUES, P. A. N.
S. July, 1872, 80.

[75] _Myiarchus tristis_, var. _lawrencei_ (GIRAUD), BAIRD.
_Tyrannula lawrencei_, GIRAUD, 16 sp. Tex. B. pl. ii.
_Myiarchus l._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 181, pl. xlvii, f.
3.—COUES, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 74.

_Obs._—The most typical specimens are from Mazatlan and
northward, across the northern portion of Mexico. On the
eastern coast, specimens from Mirador and Orizaba already
strongly incline toward var. _nigricapillus_.

[76] _Myiarchus tristis_, var. _nigricapillus_, CABANIS.
“_Myiarchus nigricapillus_, CABAN.” SCL. Cat. Am. B. 1862,
233, et Auct. _M. lawrencei_, COUES, P. A. N. S. 1872, 74
(in part).

_Obs._—A very strongly differentiated form, but
unquestionably grading into var. _lawrencei_ on the one
hand, and var. _nigriceps_ on the other.

[77] _Myiarchus tristis_, var. _nigriceps_, SCLATER.
_Myiarchus nigriceps_, SCL. P. Z. S. 1860, 68, 295.—COUES,
P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 75.

_Obs._—The last three races appear to be all reducible to
one species, as, taking the large series of specimens before
us (over 30 skins), we find it impossible to draw the line
between them. Specimens from Southern Mexico are referrible,
with equal propriety, to _lawrencei_ or to _nigricapillus_,
while skins from Panama of _nigriceps_ are less typical than
those from Ecuador. This case of gradually increasing
melanistic tendency as we proceed southward affords an exact
parallel to that of _Vireosylvia gilvus_ and _V. josephæ_,
_Sayornis nigricans_ and _S. aquaticus_, and many other
cases.

Myiarchus crinitus, CABANIS.

GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER.

_Muscicapa crinita_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 325.—WILSON,
Am. Orn. II, 1810, 75, pl. xiii.—LICHT. Verzeichniss
Doubl. 1823, No. 559.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 176; V,
423, pl. cxxix.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840, 209, pl. lvii.
_Tyrannus crinitus_, SWAINSON, Mon. Tyrant Shrikes in
Quarterly Journal, XX, Jan. 1826, 271.—NUTTALL, Man. I,
(2d ed.,) 1840, 302.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 182.
_Myiobius crinitus_, GRAY, Genera, I, 248. _Tyrannula
crinita_, BONAP. Consp. 1850, 189.—KAUP, Pr. Zoöl. Soc.
1851, 51. _Myiarchus crinitus_, CABANIS, Journ. für
Ornith. III, 1855, 479.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
178.—SCL. Catal. 1862, 232.—SAMUELS, 131. _Myionax
crinitus_, CABAN. Mus. Hein. 1859, 73 (type, Journ. 1861,
250). _Muscicapa ludoviciana_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788,
934.—LATHAM, Ind. _Tyrannus ludovicianus_, VIEILLOT, Ois.
Am. Sept. I, 1807, pl. xlv. _Muscicapa virginiana
cristata_, BRISSON, II, 1760, 412. _Crested Flycatcher_,
PENNANT, LATHAM.
Figure: BUFFON, pl. enl. 569, fig. 1.

SP. CHAR. Head with a depressed crest. Third quill longest; fourth and second successively but little shorter; first a little longer than seventh; much shorter than sixth. Tail decidedly rounded or even graduated; the lateral feather about .25 of an inch shorter. Upper parts dull greenish-olive, with the feathers of the crown and to some extent of the back showing their brown centres; upper tail-coverts turning to pale rusty-brown. Small feathers at the base of the bill, ceres, sides of the head as high as the upper eyelid, sides of the neck, throat, and forepart of the breast, bluish-ashy; the rest of the lower parts, including axillaries and lower wing-coverts, bright sulphur-yellow. A pale ring round the eye. Sides of the breast and body tinged with olivaceous. The wings brown; the first and second rows of coverts, with the secondary and tertial quills, margined externally with dull white, or on the latter slightly tinged with olivaceous-yellow. Primaries margined externally for more than half their length from the base with ferruginous; great portion of the inner webs of all the quills very pale ferruginous. The two middle tail-feathers light brown, shafts paler; the rest have the outer web and a narrow line on the inner sides of the shaft brown, pale olivaceous on the outer edge; the remainder ferruginous to the very tip. Outer web of exterior feather dull brownish-yellow. Feet black. Bill dark brown above and at the tip below; paler towards the base. Length, 8.75; wing, 4.25; tail, 4.10; tarsus, .85.

HAB. Eastern North America to the Missouri and south to Eastern Texas (not yet observed farther west). Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 121); Cuba (GUNDL. Repert. 1865, 239; CAB. J. III, 479); ? Jamaica (GOSSE, B. J. 186); Panama (LAWR. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 329); Costa Rica (CABAN. J. 1861, 250; LAWR. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 115); San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 473, rare).

The female appears to have no brown on the inner web of the quills along the shaft, or else it is confined chiefly to the outer feathers.

The young is hardly appreciably different, having merely the wing-coverts tinged with rusty at the ends.

HABITS. The common Great-crested Flycatcher of eastern North America has a much more extended northern distribution than has been generally given it by earlier writers. Wilson speaks of it only as a bird of Pennsylvania. Audubon mentions their occurring as far as Massachusetts, but as confined to the mountains, and as entirely unknown farther eastward. Mr. Nuttall refers to it as nearly unknown in New England, and as never appearing near the coast.

It is now known to be a regular though a somewhat rare summer resident, at least as far to the northeast as St. Stephen, New Brunswick, latitude 45° north, longitude 67° west, and as far to the north in Vermont as Randolph, and Hamilton in Canada, both in about latitude 44°. Mr. Boardman mentions it as a regular summer visitant, and as breeding near Calais. Professor Verrill gives it as a rare summer visitant of Western Maine. Mr. McIlwraith states it to be a common summer resident of Hamilton, Canada West, where it arrives about the 10th of May, after which its harsh cry is heard in all parts of the woods. It winters in Central America and Panama.