Chapter XXI: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (12)

In a letter dated June 17, 1865, Mr. C. S. Paine of Randolph, Vt., informed me that he had, within a few days, found a nest of this Flycatcher. It was built in the hollow of a decayed apple-tree, in one of its limbs. The nest was built up from the bottom of the cavity some eight inches, and contained six eggs. Though not very abundant in that neighborhood, Mr. Paine had been aware, for several years, of the occurrence of this Flycatcher, but had never before been able to ascertain its manner of nesting. He has since informed me that these Flycatchers have continued to occur every summer, as they always make their presence known by their harsh notes, which may be heard to quite a distance, and he knows that they breed there regularly every year. They are shy, and do not come about the buildings, but are generally seen in the woods and orchards.

In Eastern Massachusetts they are not common, but scattered pairs have been met with in Concord, Acton, Newton, Hingham, and in other places.

Dr. Coues states that the Great-crested Flycatcher reaches Washington the third week in April, and leaves the last of September. It is a common summer resident, but is most numerous in the spring and autumn. It is found on the edge of open woods, and betrays its presence by its peculiar notes. In the western part of Massachusetts, Mr. Allen gives it as a rare summer visitant, having been taken by him from May 15 to September 17, and having been found breeding on Mount Tom by Mr. C. W. Bennett. It is found abundantly in the Middle and Southern States as far south as Florida and Texas, and occurs as far to the west as the Missouri River. Dr. Woodhouse found it very abundant in Texas and in the Indian Territory, and Mr. Dresser obtained specimens at San Antonio in the month of April.

In speaking of the habits of this species, Wilson accuses it of being addicted to eating bees equally with the Kingbird; but as this bird is known to feed largely on berries, and to feed its young to some extent with the same, the extent of such propensity may well be doubted. It is not so prone to attack birds larger than itself as is the Kingbird, which Wilson characterizes as cowardice, but which it would be more charitable to call prudence. It is said to be harsh, cruel, and vindictive to smaller birds and to weaker individuals of its own species.

In its flight it moves with power, steadiness, and swiftness, and when in pursuit of insects follows its prey with great zeal and perseverance. When it captures a large insect, it retires to its perch and beats it against the limb. These birds are not in the least gregarious. They occur in isolated pairs, and appear to have no interest or sympathy with others than those of their own household. To each other, however, they are attentive and considerate, and they are devoted in their solicitude for their young.

Their usual call-note is a sharp disagreeable squeak, which, once known, is easily recognized. Besides this it has a monotonous succession of squeaking, harsh notes, only a little less unpleasant. They raise but one brood in a season, and remain together in a family group of from six to eight until they leave, in the middle of September.

During the early summer this species feeds chiefly upon insects of various kinds, which it catches with great facility, skill, and assiduity; afterwards, as if from choice, it chiefly eats ripe berries of various kinds of shrubs and plants, among which those of the poke-weed and the huckleberry are most noticeable. It nests altogether in hollows in trees, stumps, or limbs. It lines the bottoms of these hollows with a great variety of miscellaneous materials, and in quantities that vary with the size and shape of the place to be occupied. These beds are composed of loose hay, feathers, the hair of various small quadrupeds, etc., while the exuviæ of snakes are almost always to be met with.

The eggs, four, five, or six in number, are peculiar and noticeably varied and beautiful in their style of markings, varying also somewhat in shape. Generally they are nearly spherical, and equally obtuse at either end. Occasionally they are an oblong oval, one end a very little more tapering than the other. Their ground-color is a beautiful light buff, rather than a cream-color, over which are waving lines, marblings, markings, and dots of a brilliant purple, and others of a more obscure shading. The lines are variously distributed, generally running from one pole of the egg to the other with striking effect, as if laid on with the delicate brush of an artist. In some eggs the whole surface is so closely covered with these intercrossing and waving lines, blending with the obscure cloudings of lilac, as nearly to conceal the ground. Usually the buff color is conspicuously apparent, and sets off the purple lines with great effect.

An oblong-oval egg from New Jersey measures 1.10 inches in length by .70 of an inch in breadth. A more nearly spherical egg from Florida measures .90 by .75 of an inch. These well represent the two extremes. Their average is about 1 inch by .75 of an inch.

The eggs of all the members of this genus have a remarkable similarity, and can scarcely be mistaken for those of any other group.

Myiarchus crinitus, var. cinerascens, LAWR.

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER.

_Tyrannula cinerascens_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. N. Hist. V, Sept.
1851, 109. _Myiarchus cinerascens_, SCL. List, 1862, 133.—IB.
P. Z. S. 1871, 84.—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. July, 1872, 69.
_Myiarchus mexicanus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 179, pl.
5.—HEERM. X, _S_, 37, pl. v.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 316.
_Myiarchus mexicanus_, var. _pertinax_, BAIRD, P. A. N. S.
1859, 303 (Cape St. Lucas).

SP. CHAR. Bill black, the width opposite the nostrils not half the length of culmen. Head crested. Tail even, the lateral feathers slightly shorter. Second, third, and fourth quills longest; first rather shorter than the seventh. Above dull grayish-olive; the centres of the feathers rather darker; the crown, rump, and upper tail-coverts tinged with brownish. The forehead and sides of the head and neck grayish-ash; the chin, throat, and forepart of the breast ashy-white; the middle of the breast white; the rest of the under parts very pale sulphur-yellow; wings and tail brown. Two bands across the wing, with outer edges of secondaries and tertials, dull white; the outer edges of the primaries light chestnut-brown (except towards the tip and on the outer feather); the inner edges tinged with the same. Whole of middle tail-feathers, with the outer webs (only) and the ends of the others brown; the rest of the inner webs reddish-chestnut, the outer web of exterior feather yellowish-white. Legs and bill black; lower mandible brownish at the base. Length about 8.00; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.10; tarsus, .90.

HAB. Coast of California, to Cape St. Lucas, and across by the valley of Gila and Rio Grande to Northeastern Mexico. Seen as far north in Texas as San Antonio. Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 384); ? Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 129); Vera Cruz hot regions, resident (SUM. M. Bost. Soc. I); San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 473).

In a young specimen the crown is more tinged with brown; the upper tail-coverts and the middle tail-feathers are chestnut, and, in fact, all the tail-feathers are of this color, except along both sides of the shaft on the central feathers, and along its outer side in the lateral ones.

This species is easily distinguished from _T. crinitus_ and _T. cooperi_ by the brown tip of the tail; the colors paler than in the former, bill slenderer, and tarsi longer.

A variety of this species (_pertinax_[78]) is found at Cape St. Lucas, and distinguished chiefly by the considerably larger and stouter bill.

HABITS. The Ash-throated or Mexican Flycatcher appears to be a common species, from San Antonio, Texas, its extreme northeastern point, southwesterly throughout Mexico as far south as Guatemala, and westward to the Pacific coast. It has been obtained in various parts of California by Mr. Cutts, Mr. Schott, Dr. Heermann, and others, as also on the Gila River. Dr. Kennerly procured specimens at Los Nogales, Mexico, and others have met with it near the city of Mexico, at Saltillo, and in different parts of Western Texas. It was found breeding at Cape San Lucas by Mr. Xantus.

In the Department of Vera Cruz, Mr. Sumichrast found this species apparently confined to the hot region. He did not meet with it anywhere else.

Mr. Dresser thinks that this Flycatcher does not reach San Antonio before the latter part of April. The first that came under his notice was one that he shot, on the 23d of that month, on the Medina River. It breeds near the Medina and the San Antonio Rivers, making its nest in a hollow tree, or taking possession of a deserted Woodpecker’s hole. Mr. Dresser observed these birds as far to the east as the Guadaloupe River, where they were common. Farther east he saw but very few. Their eggs he speaks of as peculiarly marked with a multitude of purple and brown dashes and lines on a dull yellowish-brown ground, and very similar to those of _Myiarchus crinitus_.

In the Mexican Boundary Survey, individuals of this species were taken by Mr. A. Schott, March 31, on the Colorado Bottom; near the Gila River, New Mexico, December 31; and also at Eagle Pass, in Texas, date not given. Mr. J. H. Clark obtained a specimen at Frontera, Texas, where he mentions finding it in great abundance in damp places, or near the water. In May, 1853, Lieutenant Couch secured several near Saltillo, and notes its occurrence among mesquite-bushes. In the following June, Dr. Kennerly found them very abundant at Los Nogales. Where two were found together, they were generally noticed to be uttering a loud chattering noise.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed in the survey of Lieutenant Williamson’s route between the 32d and the 35th parallels, mentions finding this species abundant. His specimens were obtained near Posa Creek. He describes them as of shy and retiring habits, preferring the deep and shady forests where its insect food abounds. The nests, found in hollows of trees or in a deserted squirrel’s or Woodpecker’s hole, were composed of grasses and lined with feathers. The eggs, five in number, he describes as cream-colored, marked and speckled with purplish-red dashes and faint blotches of a neutral tint.

Dr. Coues found them a common summer resident in Arizona, where they arrived in the third week in April and remained until the middle of September. They were seldom found among pine-trees, but appeared to prefer ravines, hillsides, and creek bottoms. Some wintered as high up in the Colorado Valley as Fort Mohave. At Fort Whipple young birds were first observed early in July.

Dr. Cooper obtained one of this species at Fort Mohave, January 15, and is of the opinion that some may habitually winter in the Colorado Valley. In California they begin to arrive about March 10, and extend their range through very nearly the whole of the State. He describes their notes as few, loud, and harsh, but little varied, and uttered from time to time as they fly after an insect from an accustomed perch, usually a lower dead limb of a forest tree. They prefer shady situations, and are said to feed late in the evening.

Mr. Ridgway met with this species in all suitable localities, from the Sacramento Valley eastward to the Wahsatch Mountains. It was most abundant among the oaks of the plains between the Sacramento River and the Sierra Nevada; but in the wooded river valleys of the interior, as well as in the cedar and piñon or mahogany woods on the mountains of the latter region, it was also more or less frequently met with. In its manners it is described as a counterpart of the eastern _M. crinitus_, but its notes, though generally similar in character, have not that strength which makes the vociferous screaming whistles of the eastern species so noticeable.

This species, or a very closely allied race of it (var. _pertinax_) was procured at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus. It had the peculiarities of a southern race, stronger feet, stouter bill, and a generally smaller size.

A few individuals of this species were found by Mr. Grayson inhabiting the islands of the Three Marias, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. He usually saw them among low bushes, darting from their perch after flies and other winged insects. They were very silent, and seldom uttered a note.

Four eggs of this species from Matamoras, collected by the late Dr. Berlandier, have the following measurements: .82 by .75, .91 by .71, .95 by .75, .98 by .75 of an inch. Though having a very close resemblance to the eggs of _M. crinita_, there are noticeable certain constant variations. The ground-color is a little lighter, and has a tinge of pinkish not found in the eggs of the eastern species. The markings are more in oblong plashes of irregular shape, and rarely exhibit the waving lines. There are more and larger blotches of a light purplish-brown. The eggs are a little more spherical in their general shape, and the markings are less abundant. The eggs of _M. cooperi_ have a still more roseate tint in the buff of the ground-color, are marked with smaller blotches of bright purple and much larger ones of lilac-brown. They measure .92 by .75 of an inch.

[78] _Myiarchus mexicanus_, var. _pertinax_, BAIRD, Pr.
Phil. Acad. 1859, 303.

GENUS SAYORNIS, BONAP.

_Sayornis_, BONAP. ? Ateneo italiano, 1854.—IB. Comptes Rendus,
1854, Notes Orn. Delattre.
_Aulanax_, CABANIS, Journal für Orn. 1856, 1 (type, _nigricans_).

GEN. CHAR. Head with a blended depressed moderate crest. Tarsus decidedly longer than middle toe, which is scarcely longer than the hind toe. Bill rather narrow; width at base about half the culmen. Tail broad, long, slightly forked; equal to the wings, which are moderately pointed, and reach to the middle of the tail. First primary shorter than the sixth.

This genus agrees with the preceding in the length of the broad tail, but has a longer tarsus and a different style of coloration. The species are distinguished as follows:—

S. nigricans. Sooty black; abdomen and edge of outer web
of lateral tail-feather pure white.

_a._ Lower tail-coverts pure white.

Greater wing-coverts paler toward tips of outer webs.
Wing, 3.60; tail, 3.45. _Hab._ Pacific Province,
United States, and Mexico var. _nigricans_.

_b._ Lower tail-coverts blackish.

Greater coverts not appreciably paler at ends. Wing,
3.35; tail, 3.30. _Hab._ Middle America, north of
Panama var. _aquaticus_.[79]

Both rows of wing-coverts distinctly tipped with
white; white edgings of secondaries very conspicuous.
Wing, 3.35; tail, 3.30. _Hab._ New Granada; Venezuela
var. _cinerascens_.[80]

S. fuscus. Grayish-olive above, and on sides of breast;
beneath (including throat) white, tinged with
sulphur-yellow. Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.20. _Hab._ Eastern
Province United States; Eastern Mexico.

S. sayus. Brownish-ashy, the tail and upper tail-coverts
black; abdomen and crissum deep ochraceous. _Hab._ Western
Province of United States, and whole of Mexico.

[79] _Sayornis nigricans_, var. _aquaticus_. _Sayornis
aquaticus_, SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, p. 119
(Guatemala).

[80] _Sayornis nigricans_, var. _cineracens_. _Sayornis
cineracea_, LAFR. Rev. Zoöl. 1848, p. 8.—SCL. Catal. Am.
Birds, 1862, 200. The above races are clearly shown to be
merely modifications, with latitude, of one type, by the
series of specimens before us. Thus, specimens of _S.
nigricans_ from Orizaba show more or less dusky on the lower
tail-coverts, while in more northern specimens (i. e.
typical var. _nigricans_) there is not a trace of it.
Typical specimens of _aquaticus_, from Guatemala, show
merely a more advanced melanism, the lighter markings on the
wings becoming greatly restricted; there is still, however,
a decided presence of white on the lower tail-coverts.
Specimens from Costa Rica (typical _aquaticus_) exhibit the
maximum degree of melanism, the white beneath being confined
to a central spot on the abdomen. In _cineraceus_ (from New
Granada) the white beneath is similarly restricted, but on
the wings is very conspicuous, showing a reversion back to
the character of _nigricans_, though surpassing the latter
in the amount of white on the coverts and secondaries.

The _S. latirostris_ (_Aulanax l._ CAB. & HEIN. Mus. Hein.
ii, p. 68; _Sayornis l._ SCL. Cat. Am. B. 1862, 200), from
Ecuador, we have not seen. It is probably also referrible to
the same type.

Sayornis nigricans, BONAP.

BLACK PEWEE.

_Tyrannula nigricans_, SWAINSON, Syn. Birds Mex. Taylor’s Phil. Mag.
I, 1827, 367.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R.
Surv. VI, IV, 1857, 81. _Muscicapa nigricans_, AUD. Orn. Biog.
V, 1839, 302, pl. cccclxxiv.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840, 218, pl.
lx. _Tyrannus nigricans_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 326.
_Myiobius nigricans_, GRAY. _Myiarchus nigricans_, CABANIS,
Tschudi Fauna Peruan. 1844-46, 153 (Peru). _Sayornis
nigricans_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus XXVIII, 1854, notes Orn.
87.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 183.—HEERM. X, _S_,
38.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 319. _Aulanax nigricans_,
CABANIS, Cab. Journ. für Ornith. IV, Jan. 1856, 2 (type of
genus).—IB. M. H. II, 68. _Muscicapa semiatra_, VIGORS, Zoöl.
Beechey Voy. 1839, 17.

[Line drawing: _Sayornis nigricans._
3906]

SP. CHAR. Wings rounded; second, third, and fourth longest; first rather shorter than sixth. Tarsi with a second row of scales behind. The head and neck all round, forepart and sides of the breast, dark sooty-brown; the rest of the upper parts similar, but lighter; faintly tinged with lead-color towards the tail. The middle of the breast, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts white; some of the latter, with the shafts and the centre, brown. The lower wing-coverts grayish-brown, edged with white. Wings dark brown; the edges of secondary coverts rather lighter; of primary coverts dull white. Edge of the exterior vane of the first primary and of secondaries white. Tail dark brown, with the greater part of the outer vane of the exterior tail-feather white; this color narrowing from the base to the tip. Bill and feet black. The tail rounded, rather emarginate; feathers broad; more obliquely truncate than in _sayus_. The bill slender; similar to that of _S. fuscus_. Length, nearly 7 inches; wing, 3.60; tail, 3.45.

HAB. California coast (Umpqua Valley, Oregon, Newberry), and across by valley of Gila and Upper Rio Grande to New Leon, and south; Mazatlan. Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 383); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 296); Vera Cruz, temp. and alp. regions, breeding (SUM. M. B. Soc. I, 557); W. Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 60).

The female appears to differ only in the smaller size. A young bird from San Francisco has two bands of rusty on the wing; the shoulders and hinder part of the back tinged with the same.

HABITS. Within our limits the Black Flycatcher has a distribution very nearly corresponding with that of _Myiarchus cinerascens_. It is found from Oregon and California on the Pacific coast, to the valley of the Rio Grande, and thence south throughout Mexico. It also occurs as a resident in Guatemala. Specimens in the Smithsonian Museum are from various parts of Mexico, from New Mexico, and California.

During his explorations in Northern Mexico, Lieutenant Couch first met with this species at Cadereita, Mexico, in April, occurring in abundance under the high banks of the stream which supplies the town with water. Its habits appeared to him to be much the same with those of the common Phœbe-Bird (_Sayornis fuscus_). Its nest was supposed to be in the bank. Dr. Kennerly, who found it at Espia, Mexico, could not observe any difference in the habits from those of the _Pyrocephalus rubineus_. They were both observed in the same vicinity, feeding alike on insects and having the same movements.

In the Department of Vera Cruz, Mr. Sumichrast says that this species is known by the common name of _Aguador_. It is very common in both the temperate and the colder regions of that State. It nests within the dwelling-houses in the city of Orizaba.

Dr. Kennerly states that after passing the mountains of California, and descending into the valley of the San Gabriel River, he found these birds quite abundant on the Pueblo Creek in New Mexico, though he had noticed none previously. They were generally found perched upon the summit of a bush, from which they would occasionally make short excursions in search of prey. At the season in which they were observed, March, they were rarely found in pairs, from which he inferred they were already hatching.

Dr. Heermann speaks of it as abundant throughout all California, and as constructing its nests in situations similar to those of the common eastern species (_S. fuscus_). It seems to have a marked predilection for the vicinity of streams and lakes, where it is nearly always to be seen, perched upon a stake or branch. It occasionally darts into the air for an insect, and returns to the same place to renew its watch and to repeat these movements. The nest, composed of mud and mosses and lined with hair, is placed against the rocks, the rafters of a house or bridge, or against the inside of a large hollow tree, and the eggs, four or five in number, are pure white, speckled with red.

Dr. Coues found this Flycatcher a very abundant and permanent resident in the valleys of the Gila and Colorado, and the more southern portions of the Territory of Arizona generally. It was not observed in the immediate vicinity of Fort Whipple, though it was detected a few miles south of that locality. As it has been found on the Pacific coast so much farther north than the latitude of Fort Whipple, he thinks it may yet be met with, at least as a summer visitant to that place. In his journey from Arizona to the Pacific, he ascertained that it is common throughout Southern Arizona, being, among land birds, his most constant companion on the route. Perched generally in pairs upon the dense verdure that in many places overhangs the river, it pursued its constant vocation of securing the vagrant insects around it, constantly uttering its peculiar unmelodious notes. In all its movements the Pewee of the Eastern States was unmistakably reproduced. It was rather shy and wary. In Southern Arizona and California it remains throughout the winter. It seems to delight not only in river bottoms, but also in deep mountain gorges and precipitous cañons with small streams flowing through them.

Dr. Newberry found this species quite common in Northern California, and specimens were also obtained as far to the north as the Umpqua Valley in Oregon. According to Dr. Cooper it is an abundant and resident species in all the lower parts of California, except the Colorado Valley, where he found none later than March 25, as they had all evidently passed on farther north. At San Diego, at that date, the following year (1862), all these birds had nests and eggs, and were there, as elsewhere, the first birds to build. Their nest, he states, is formed of an outer wall of mud about five and a quarter inches wide and three and a half high. It is built like that of the Barn Swallow, in little pellets, piled successively, as they dry, in the shape of a half-cup. They are fastened to a wall, or sometimes placed on a shelf, beam, or ledge of a rock, but are always under some protecting cover, often under a bridge. They are lined with fine grass or moss, and horse or cow hair. The eggs, four or five in number, he describes as pure white, measuring .74 by .55 of an inch.

This bird is said to prefer the vicinity of human habitations, and also to keep about water, on account of the numerous flies they find in such situations. It will often sit for hours at a time on the end of a barn, or some other perch, uttering a monotonous but not unpleasant ditty, which resembles, according to Dr. Cooper, the sound of _pittic pittit_, alternately repeated, and quite like the cry of the eastern _Sayornis fuscus_, which is its exact counterpart in habits. It is said to fly only a short distance at a time, turning and dodging quickly in pursuit of its prey, which it captures with a sharp snap of the bill.

This species was met with by Mr. Ridgway only in the vicinity of Sacramento City, Cal., where it seemed to replace our eastern Pewee, having the same familiarity and general habits, and with notes not distinguishable from some belonging to _S. fuscus_.

The eggs of this species, as described by Dr. Cooper and by Dr. Heermann, are either pure white unspotted, or else white with fine red dots, in this respect resembling the eggs of the _S. fuscus_, which present the same variations. The measurements of those in my cabinet vary from .75 by .56 of an inch to .78 by .60.

Mr. Salvin says that _Sayornis nigricans_ is a resident species at Dueñas, in Guatemala, where it may always be found at a short distance from the village, up the stream of the river Guacatate. It also occurs about the lake. In its actions it is described as a lively and restless species, in this respect having but little resemblance to the Tyrant Flycatchers. It may always be found near water, generally sitting on a stone on the margin, from which it constantly darts to seize a fly or an insect from the surface. His remarks may, however, refer to the var. _aquaticus_.

Sayornis fuscus, BAIRD.

PEWEE; PHŒBE-BIRD.

_Muscicapa fusca_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 931.—LATHAM, Index,
Orn. II, 1790, 483.—VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 68, pl.
xl.—BONAP. Obs. Wilson, 1825, no. 115.—IB. Synopsis,
68.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 122; V, 1839, 424, pl. cxx.—IB.
Synopsis, 1839, 43.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840, 223, pl.
lxiii.—GIRAUD, Birds L. Island, 1844, 42. _Tyrannula fusca_,
RICH. List, 1837.—BONAP. List, 1838. _Tyrannus fuscus_,
NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 312. _? Aulanax fuscus_,
CABANIS, Cab. Journ. IV, 1856, 1. _Muscicapa atra_, GMELIN,
Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 946.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 278.
_Muscicapa phœbe_, LATHAM, Index Orn. II, 1790, 489. _Muscicapa
nunciola_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 78, pl. xiii. _Myiobius
nunciola_, GRAY, Genera, I, 248. _Muscicapa carolinensis
fusca_, BRISSON, Orn. II, 1760, 367. _Black-headed Flycatcher_,
PENNANT, Arc. Zoöl. II, 389, 269. _Black-cap Flycatcher_,
LATHAM, Synopsis, I, 353. _Empidias fuscus_, CABAN. M. H. II,
Sept. 1859, 69 (type).—SCL. Catal. 1862, 234. _Sayornis
fuscus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 184.—SAMUELS, 133.—ALLEN,
B. Fla. 1871, 299.

SP. CHAR. Sides of breast and upper parts dull olive-brown, fading slightly towards the tail. Top and sides of head dark brown. A few dull white feathers on the eyelids. Lower parts dull yellowish-white, mixed with brown on the chin, and in some individuals across the breast. Quills brown, the outer primary, secondaries, and tertials edged with dull white. In some individuals the greater coverts faintly edged with dull white. Tail brown; outer edge of lateral feather dull white; outer edges of the rest like the back. Tibiæ brown. Bill and feet black. Bill slender, edges nearly straight. Tail rather broad and slightly forked. Third quill longest; second and fourth nearly equal; the first shorter than sixth. Length, 7 inches; wing, 3.42; tail, 3.30.

HAB. Eastern North America; Eastern Mexico to Mirador and Orizaba. Cuba (CABAN. J. IV, 1); Xalapa, (SCL. List, 234); Vera Cruz, winter (SUMICHRAST, M. B. S. I, 557); San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 773, rare).

In autumn, and occasionally in early spring, the colors are much clearer and brighter. Whole lower parts sometimes bright sulphur-yellow; above, greenish-olive; top and sides of the head tinged with sooty. In the young of the year the colors are much duller; all the wing-coverts broadly tipped with light ferruginous, as also the extreme ends of the wings and tail-feathers. The brown is prevalent on the whole throat and breast; the hind part of the back, rump, and tail strongly ferruginous.

HABITS. The Pewee, or Phœbe-Bird, a well-known harbinger of early spring, is a common species throughout the whole of eastern North America, from the Rio Grande, on the southwest, to the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the northeast, and as far west as the Missouri River.

Dr. Woodhouse found it common both throughout Texas and in the Indian Territory. It was taken by Sumichrast in the Department of Vera Cruz, but he was in doubt whether it occurs there as a resident or is only migratory. It was observed at San Antonio, Texas, but only as a migrant, by both Dresser and Heermann; but at Houston, in that State, it evidently remains and breeds, as individuals were seen there in June by Dresser. Specimens were taken in February at Brownsville, Texas, by Lieutenant Couch, and afterwards in March on the opposite side of the river,—in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

In South Carolina, Dr. Coues found these birds most common in the months of February and March, and again in October and November. He had no doubt that some remain and pass the winter, and that others are resident in the State during the summer months, but believes the great majority go farther north to breed.

In Western Maine it is a common summer visitant, breeding there in considerable numbers. Professor Verrill states that it is frequently seen there the first of March, becoming quite common by the first of April. It is also a summer visitant about Calais, where it breeds, but is rather rare. At Hamilton, Canada, Mr. McIlwraith reports it as a common summer resident, arriving about April 15.

In Pennsylvania this species arrives among the earliest spring visitants, sometimes as early as the first week in March, and continues in that region until late in October. Wilson has seen specimens as late as the 12th of November. He states that in the month of February he met with them feeding on the smilax berries in the low, swampy woods of North and South Carolina. They were already chanting their simple, plaintive notes. In Massachusetts they usually arrive from the 15th to the 25th of March. In the warm spring of 1870 they were already abundant by the 10th. They were nesting early in April, and their first brood was ready to fly by the middle of May. They have two broods in a season, and occasionally perhaps three, as I have known fresh eggs in the middle of August. They leave late in October, unless the season be unusually open, when a few linger into November.

Their well-known and monotonous, though not unpleasing, note of _pē-w[ēē]_, or, as some hear it, _phœ-bēē_, is uttered with more force and frequency in early spring than later in the season, though they repeat the note throughout their residence north. It usually has some favorite situation, in which it remains all the morning, watching for insects and continually repeating its simple song. As he sits, he occasionally flirts his tail and darts out after each passing insect, always returning to the same twig.

This species is attracted both to the vicinity of water and to the neighborhood of dwellings, probably for the same reason,—the abundance of insects in either situation. They are a familiar, confiding, and gentle bird, attached to localities, and returning to them year after year. They build in sheltered situations, as under a bridge, under a projecting rock, in the porches of houses, and in similar situations. I have known them to build on a small shelf in the porch of a dwelling; against the wall of a railroad-station, within reach of the passengers; and under a projecting window-sill, in full view of the family, entirely unmoved by the presence of the latter at mealtime.

Their nests are constructed of small pellets of mud, placed in layers one above the other, in semicircular form, covered with mosses, and warmly lined with fine straw and feathers. When the nest is placed on a flat surface,—a shelf or a projecting rock,—it is circular in form, and mud is not made use of. A nest of this description, taken by Mr. Vickary in Lynn, and containing five eggs, was constructed on a ledge, protected by an overhanging rock, only a few feet from the ground. It measured four and a half inches in diameter and three in height. The cavity was nearly three inches wide and one and a half deep. Its base was constructed of layers of fine leaves, strips of bark, roots of plants, and other miscellaneous materials. The great mass of the nest itself was made up of fine mosses closely interwoven, and strengthened by an intermixture of firmer plant fibres. The whole was carefully and softly lined with strips of the inner bark of various deciduous shrubs, fine roots, and finer grasses. The semicircular nests are usually placed out of reach of the weather under some projecting shelter.

Wilson states that they often nest in eaves, and occasionally in an open well, five or six feet down, among the interstices of the side-walls. Nuttall has known them to nest in an empty kitchen.

Their attachment to a locality, when once chosen, is remarkable, and is often persevered in under the most discouraging circumstances. In one instance, Nuttall states that a nest was built in the boathouse at Fresh Pond, Cambridge,—a place so common as to be almost a thoroughfare. Although with its young brood this nest was torn down by ruffian hands, the female immediately built a new one in the same spot, and laid five additional eggs. This was lined with the silvery shreds of a manilla rope, taken from the loft over the boathouse.

Besides the common call-note, from which these birds derive their name, they have, during the love-season, a low twittering song with which they entertain their mates, but which is heard only when the birds are in company, and for a brief season.

The flight of the Pewee is an alternation of soaring and a succession of light fluttering motions, more rapid when pursuing its prey than in its ordinary movements. Its crest is usually erected when it is in motion, or on the lookout for insects.

Mr. Audubon found these birds in full song in Florida during the winter, and as lively as in spring, but met with none breeding south of Charleston. They leave Louisiana in February, and return to it in October. They feed largely on berries, especially during the winter, and Mr. Maynard found some in the spring of 1868 with hawthorn berries in their stomachs.

The eggs of the Pewee measure .80 of an inch in length and .60 in breadth. They are of a rounded oval shape, pointed at one end and much larger at the other. Their ground-color is a pure bright white, and generally unspotted; but a certain proportion, one set in every five or six, is distinctly marked with reddish-brown dots at the larger end.

Sayornis sayus, BAIRD.

SAY’S PEWEE.

_Muscicapa saya_, BONAP. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 20, pl. xi, fig. 3.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 428, pl. ccclix.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840,
217, pl. lix. _Tyrannus saya_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840,
311. _Myiobius saya_, GRAY, Genera, I, 1844-49, 249. _Ochthœca
sayĭ_, CABANIS, Wiegmann Archiv, 1847, I, 255 (not type).
_Tyrannula saya_, BONAP. Conspectus, 1850.—MAX. Cab. J. VI,
1858, 183. _Aulanax sayus_, CABANIS, Journ. Orn. 1856, 2.
_Tyrannula pallida_, SWAINSON, Syn. Birds Mex. No. 15, in
Taylor’s Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 367. _Sayornis pallida_,
BONAP.—SCL. P. Z. S. 1857, 204. _Sayornis sayus_, BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 185.—IB. M. B. II, Birds, 9.—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
I, 1870, 320. _Theromyias saya_, CABAN. M. H. II, Sept. 1859,
68 (type).

SP. CHAR. Above and on the sides of the head, neck, and breast, grayish-brown, darker on the crown; region about the eye dusky. The chin, throat, and upper part of the breast similar to the back, but rather lighter and tinged with the color of the rest of the lower parts, which are pale cinnamon. Under wing-coverts pale rusty-white. The wings of a rather deeper tint than the back, with the exterior vanes and tips of the quills darker. Edges of the greater and secondary coverts, of the outer vane of the outer primary, and of the secondaries and tertials, dull white. The upper tail-coverts and tail nearly black. Edge of outer vane of exterior tail-feather white. Bill dark brown, rather paler beneath. The feet brown. Second, third, and fourth quills nearly equal; fifth nearly equal to sixth; sixth much shorter than the fifth. Tail broad, emarginate. Tarsi with a posterior row of scales. Length, 7 inches; wing, 4.30; tail, 3.35.

HAB. Missouri and central High Plains, westward to the Pacific and south to Mexico. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 366); Orizaba (SCL. List, 199); Vera Cruz, winter? (SUM. M. Bost. Soc. I, 557); S. E. Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 473, breeds); W. Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 60).

The young of the year have the upper parts slightly tinged with ferruginous; two broad (ferruginous) bands on the wings formed by the tips of the first and second coverts. The quills and tail rather darker than in an adult specimen.

Autumnal specimens are simply more deeply colored than spring examples, the plumage softer and more blended.

HABITS. Say’s Flycatcher has an extended distribution throughout western North America, from Mexico, on the south, to the plains of the Saskatchewan on the north, and from the Rio Grande and the Missouri to the Pacific Ocean.

It was first discovered by Mr. Titian Peale on the Arkansas River, near the Rocky Mountains, and described by Bonaparte. Mr. Peale noticed a difference in its voice from that of the common _S. fuscus_, and found it nesting in a tree, building a nest of mud and moss, lined with dried grasses. Its young were ready to fly in July. Richardson obtained individuals of this species at the Carlton House, May 13. It is not given by Cooper and Suckley in their Zoölogy of Washington Territory, but Dr. Newberry found it not uncommon throughout both Oregon and California.

Mr. Sumichrast ascertained the presence of this bird within the Department of Vera Cruz, but whether there as resident or as exclusively migratory he was not able to state. It has also been found in winter throughout Mexico. Mr. J. H. Clark met with it near Fort Webster, in New Mexico, and describes it as particularly abundant about the copper mines. One of the shafts near the fort, and which was partially filled up, served as a sinkhole for the offal of the town, and around this quite a number of these birds could always be seen in pursuit of flies and insects attracted to the place. Mr. Clark observed that their sudden darting from their perch and their instantaneous return were not always attended with the capture of an insect, but seemed at times to be done only for amusement or exercise. Mr. Dresser first noticed these birds in November, when walking in the gardens of the arsenal at San Antonio. On his journey to Eagle Pass in December, he saw several daily, generally in pairs. They would perch on a bush by the roadside, occasionally darting off after some insect, and, as soon as he drew near, would fly off to a convenient perch some distance ahead, thus keeping in advance for miles. During the months of January and February they were not uncommon, but after that he lost sight of them altogether. They seemed to prefer the open country, as he generally found them on the prairies, and never in the mesquite thickets. Their stomachs were found to contain small insects.

Dr. Woodhouse frequently met with these birds in Western Texas and in New Mexico. They seemed more silent and more shy than the _fuscus_, but otherwise similar in their habits.

Dr. Kennerly met with this species at Bill Williams’s Fork, New Mexico, February 10, 1854. He states that he found them common in Texas, and as far to the westward as the Great Colorado River. They built their nests under the cliffs along the stream, and in notes and in every other respect closely resembled the common Pewee.

Dr. Heermann mentions finding this species abundant in Southern California. It was more especially plentiful in the fall, at the time of its migration southward. He also found it in New Mexico, in the northern part of Texas, near El Paso, and in Sacramento Valley, though somewhat rare. In migrating, it prefers the deep valleys bordered by high hills, but also occurs on the open plains, where, perched on the stalk of some dead weed, or on a prominent rock, it darts forth in pursuit of its prey, to return to the same point.

In Arizona, Dr. Coues found this Flycatcher common throughout the Territory. At Fort Whipple it was a summer resident. It was one of the first of the migratory birds to make its appearance in spring, arriving early in March, and remained among the last, staying until October. It winters in the Colorado Valley and the southern portions of the Territory generally. He found it frequenting almost exclusively open plains, in stunted chaparral and sage brush. In some other points of habits it is said to differ remarkably from our other Flycatchers. It does not habitually frequent cañons, rocky gorges, and secluded banks of streams, as does _S. fuscus_, nor does it inhabit forests, like other Flycatchers.

Dr. Cooper regards this bird as mostly a winter visitor in the southern and western parts of California, where he has seen none later than March. In summer it is said to migrate to the great interior plains as far to the north as latitude 60°. It arrives from the north at Los Angeles in September, and perhaps earlier in the northern part of the State, and possibly breeds there east of the Sierras. Mr. Allen found it common in Colorado Territory, among the mountains.

In the arid portions of the Great Basin this species was often seen by Mr. Ridgway. In its natural state it preferred rocky shores of lakes or rivers, or similar places in the cañons of the mountains, where it attached its bulky down-lined nests to the inside of small caves or recesses in the rocks, usually building them upon a small projecting shelf. Wherever man has erected a building in those desert wastes,—as at the stage-stations along the road, or in the mining towns,—it immediately assumed the familiarity of our eastern Pewee, at once taking possession of any outbuilding or any abandoned dwelling. Its notes differ widely from those of the _S. fuscus_ and _S. nigricans_, the common one consisting of a wailing _peer_, varied by a tremulous twitter, and more resembling certain tones of the Wood Pewees (_Contopus virens_ and _richardsoni_), with others which occasionally call to mind the _Myiarchus cinerascens_.

This species has been observed as far to the east as Racine, Wisconsin, where it was taken by Dr. P. R. Hoy. The specimen was sent to Mr. Cassin, and its identity fully established. Dr. Palmer found it breeding near Fort Wingate, in Arizona, June 11, 1869, and Mr. Ridgway obtained its nests and eggs at Pyramid Lake, Nevada, May 23, 1868. One of these nests (No. 13,588) he describes as a nearly globular mass, more flattened on top, 3.50 inches in depth by 4.00 in diameter, and composed chiefly of spiders’ webs, with which is mixed very fine vegetable fibres, of various descriptions. This composition forms the bulk of the nest, and makes a closely matted and tenacious, but very soft structure; the neat but rather shallow cavity is lined solely with the grayish-white down of wild ducks. The nest was placed on a shelf inside a small cave on the shore of the island, at about ten or twelve feet from the water.

Their eggs are rounded at one end and pointed at the other, measure .82 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth. They are of a uniform chalky white, and, so far as I am aware, entirely unspotted.

GENUS CONTOPUS, CABANIS.

_Contopus_, CABANIS, Journ. für Ornith. III, Nov. 1855, 479. (Type,
_Muscicapa virens_, L.)

[Line drawing: _Contopus borealis._
942 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Tarsus very short, but stout; less than the middle toe and scarcely longer than the hinder; considerably less than the culmen. Bill quite broad at the base; wider than half the culmen. Tail moderately forked. Wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the middle of the tail; the first primary about equal to the fourth. All the primaries slender and rather acute, but not attenuated. Head moderately crested. Color olive above, pale yellowish beneath, with a darker patch on the sides of the breast. Under tail-coverts streaked in most species. A tuft of cottony-white feathers on each side of the rump (concealed in most species).

This genus is pre-eminently characterized among North American Flycatchers by the very short tarsi, and the long and much pointed wings.

In most other genera, as _Sayoris_, _Myiarchus_, and _Empidonax_, a trace of a cottony tuft may be discovered by careful search on the flanks; but in the present genus, there is, in addition, the tufts on the rump, not found in the others. The species are as follows:—

Species and Varieties.

A. Cottony patch of white feathers on sides of the rump
greatly developed, and conspicuous. Rictal bristles very
short (about one fourth the length of the bill). Lower
parts distinctly and abruptly white medially (somewhat
interrupted on the breast).

1. C. borealis. First quill longer than the fourth,
generally exceeding the third. Wing, 4.00 to 4.40;
tail, 2.90 to 3.00; culmen, .90; tarsus, .60. Above
dark olive-plumbeous, the tertials edged with whitish;
lower parts a lighter shade of the same, laterally and
across the breast (narrowly), the throat and middle
line of the abdomen being abruptly white. Young not
different. _Hab._ Northern parts of North America, to
the north border of United States; on the
mountain-ranges, farther south, on the interior
ranges, penetrating through Mexico to Costa Rica.

B. Cottony patch on side of rump rudimentary and
concealed. Rictal bristles strong (one half, or more, the
length of the bill). Lower parts not distinctly white
medially.

_a._ First primary shorter than fifth, but exceeding the
sixth. Tail shorter than wings.

2. C. pertinax. Wing more than 3.50. Grayish-olive,
becoming lighter on the throat (indistinctly) and
abdomen (decidedly). No distinct light bands on the
wing. Rictal bristles about half the length of bill.

The olive of a grayish cast, and not darker on the
crown. Wing, 4.45; tail, 3.90; depth of its fork,
.35; culmen, .92; tarsus, .70. _Hab._ Mexico,
generally north into Arizona (Fort Whipple, COUES)
var. _pertinax_.

The olive of a sooty cast, and darker on the crown.
Wing, 3.60; tail, 3.10; its fork, .20; culmen, .83;
tarsus, .61. _Hab._ Costa Rica var. _lugubris_.[81]

3. C. brachytarsus. Wing less than 3.00; colors much
as in _pertinax_, var. _pertinax_, but wing-bands
distinct, breast less grayish, and pileum decidedly
darker than the back. Rictal bristles two thirds as
long as the bill.

Wing, 2.65; tail, 2.55; culmen, .60; tarsus, .53.
_Hab._ Panama var. _brachytarsus_.[82]

Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.55; culmen, .67; tarsus, .53.
_Hab._ Yucatan var. _schotti_.[83]

_b._ First primary shorter than the sixth. Tail
variable.

4. C. caribæus. Bill much depressed, very long and
broad, the sides more nearly parallel on the basal
than on the terminal half; rictal bristles very strong
(two thirds, or more, the length of the bill). Above
olivaceous, generally rather dark, but varying in
tint. Beneath whitish, or dull light-ochraceous, more
brownish along the sides and (more faintly) across the
breast. Axillars and lining of the wing deep
light-ochraceous.

Tail longer than wings; bill moderately depressed;
rictal bristles three fourths as long as the bill.

Dark greenish-olive above; beneath dingy
ochrey-yellowish. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.90; culmen,
.78; tarsus, .58. _Hab._ Cuba var. _caribæus_.[84]

Dark olive-gray above; beneath whitish, with
scarcely any yellowish tinge. Wing, 3.00; tail,
3.05; culmen, .70; tarsus, .59. _Hab._ Hayti
var. _hispaniolensis_.[85]

Brownish-olive above; beneath deep dingy
ochrey-yellowish. Wing, 2.85; tail, 2.90; culmen,
.66; tarsus, .56. _Hab._ Jamaica var. _pallidus_.[86]

Tail shorter than wing; bill excessively
depressed; rictal bristles only one half as long
as the bill.

Olive-plumbeous above; beneath dingy white (not
interrupted on the breast); tinged posteriorly
with sulphury (not ochrey) yellow; wing-bands pale
ash. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.65; culmen, .79; tarsus,
.63. _Hab._ Bahamas var. _bahamensis_.[87]

C. First quill much longer than fifth (sometimes equal to
fourth). Tail much shorter than the wing. Bill much
smaller, less depressed, and more triangular; rictal
bristles about one half the bill.

5. C. virens. Colors of _caribæus_ var. _bahamensis_,
but rather more olivaceous above, and more distinctly
tinged with sulphur-yellow posteriorly beneath. Lining
of the wings, and axillars, without any ochraceous
tinge; lower tail-coverts distinctly grayish
centrally.

Whitish of the lower parts not interrupted on the
breast. Wing, 3.40; tail, 2.90; culmen, .67; tarsus,
.54. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States var. _virens_.

Whitish of medial lower parts interrupted by a
grayish wash across the breast. Wing, 3.40; tail,
2.65 to 2.70; culmen, .70; tarsus, .54 to .56.
_Hab._ Western Province of United States, south
throughout Middle America to Ecuador var. _richardsoni_.[88]

[81] _Contopus lugubris_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1865,
134 (Costa Rica, Baranca).

[82] _Contopus brachytarsus_, SCLATER, Cat. Am. B. 1862,
231. (_Empidonax brachyt._ SCL. Ibis, 1859, p. 441.) A
strongly marked race, but distinguishable from _schotti_
only by just appreciable differences in color (being paler
beneath), and shorter wing and bill, the latter broader at
the tip.

[83] _Contopus_ (_brachytarsus_ var. ?), var. _schotti_,
LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 1869, 202 (Yucatan). Very nearly
related to _C. richardsoni_, but easily distinguished by the
very different proportions.

[84] _Contopus caribæus_ (D’ORB.) _Muscipeta caribæa_,
D’ORB. (R. de la Sagra), Hist. Cuba, 1839, 77.

[85] _Contopus caribæus_, var. _hispaniolensis_, BRYANT.
_Tyrannula caribæa_, var. _hispaniolensis_, BRYANT, Pr.
Bost. Soc. XI, 1866, 91.

[86] _Contopus caribæus_, var. _pallidus_ (GOSSE). _Myiobius
pallidus_, GOSSE, Birds Jam. 166. _Blacicus pallidus_, SCL.
P. Z. S. 1861, 77. _Contopus p._ SCL. Catal. Am. B. 1862,
231.—MARCH, Pr. Ph. A. N. Sc. 1863, 290.

[87] _Contopus_ (_caribæus_ var. ?) _bahamensis_, BRYANT.
_Empidonax bahamensis_, BRYANT, List of Birds of the
Bahamas, 1859, p. 7. Young with the colors more ashy above,
and less yellowish beneath; the upper parts with feathers
faintly tipped with paler, causing an obsolete transverse
mottling; two distinct bands on wing of pale ochraceous.

Of the above, _caribæus_, _hispaniolensis_, and _pallidus_
are clearly to be referred to one species; the _C.
bahamensis_ also has many characters in common with them,
and no violence would be done by referring it, also, to the
same type; it is, however, more modified from the standard
than any of the others, though the modifications are not of
importance.

[88] These measurements are not only those of United States
and Mexican examples, but also of Middle American examples
(“_sordidulus_,” SCLATER, and “_plebeius_,” CABANIS), and of
a series from Ecuador and New Granada (= “_bogotensis_,”
SCLATER). In comparing a quite large number of such Middle
American and Equatorial specimens with the large series of
Northern examples, we have been utterly unable to appreciate
even the slightest difference between them.

The _C. punensis_ (LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 1869, 237; Puna
Island, Guayaquil) is founded upon an immature specimen, so
the characters of the species cannot be given with
exactness. The relationship appears very close to the _C.
caribæus_, there being the same large, very depressed bill,
with the long bristles reaching nearly to its tip, and the
tail about as long as the wing; while the upper plumage has
the light faint transverse mottling seen in the young
_caribæus_, var. _bahamensis_, and the lining of the wing
ochraceous. In colors, however, the two are very different,
the young of _punensis_ being ashy-green, instead of pure
ash, on the back, the crown very much darker, instead of not
appreciably so; the wing-bands are white instead of
ochraceous, while the breast and sides are dull
sulphur-yellowish, instead of ashy, without any yellow
tinge. The measurements are as follows: Wing, 2.60; tail,
2.60; culmen, .72; tarsus, .56.

The _C. ochraceus_, SCLATER & SALVIN (P. Z. S. 1869, 419;
SALV. Ibis, 1870, 115), of Costa Rica, we have not seen.
From the description, however, it seems to be scarcely
different from _C. lugubris_, and it is probably the same.
The size (wing, 3.30) appears to be a little smaller, and
the belly more deeply yellowish.

Contopus borealis, BAIRD.

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.

_Tyrannus borealis_, SW. & RICH. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 141, plate.
_Myiobius borealis_, GRAY, Genera, I, 248. _Muscicapa cooperi_,
NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 282.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 422; V,
1839, 422, pl. clxxiv.—IB. Synopsis, 1839, 41.—IB. Birds Am.
I, 1840, 212, pl. lviii. _Tyrannus cooperi_, BONAP. List,
1838.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 298. _Contopus
cooperi_, CABANIS, Journal für Ornithol. III, Nov. 1855, 479.
_Muscicapa inornata_, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 282. _Contopus
borealis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 188.—COOPER & SUCKLEY,
169.—SCLATER, Catal. 1862, 230.—SAMUELS, 135.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 1870, 323. _Contopus mesoleucus_, SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1859, 43.—IB. Ibis, 1859, 122, 151. _Tyrannus nigricans_, MAX.
Cab. J. VI, 1858, 184.