380 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



slightly more chalky hue than those of the minimus, and more oblong. Tliose 

 procuiLHl liy Mr. r.oardiiKiu were sprinkled with minute dots of reddi.sii- 

 bruwu. Their nieasureuient is .G8 by .52 of an inch. 



Empidonax flaviventris, ^ar. di£acilis, Baird. 



WESTERN YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. 



Empidonax dijficilis, B.\ii!i), Binls N. Am. IS.iS, 19S (undur E. flavivcnlris), pi. Ixxvi, f. 2. 

 — ScLATEK, Catal. 1862, 230. Empiduiutx JlavivejUris, CooPElt, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 

 328. 



Sp. Ch.\r. Similar to flaviventris, but tail mucli longer, and colors lighter and duller. 

 The olive above less green, aud the sulphur-yellow beneath less pure, having an ochra- 

 ceous cast, this especially marked on the edge of the wing; wing-bands grayish rather 

 than yellowish white. Measurements, $ (58,550, Parley's Park, Wahsatch Mountains, 

 Utah, Augusts, 1869; C. King, R. Ridgvvat) : Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.80; wing-formula. 3, 

 4, 2, 5, 6, 1. Young. Wing-bands oohraceous, instead of grayish-white, with a sulphur- 

 yellow tinge. 



Hab. Western Province of United States, and Western Mexico. (Mazatlan, Cohma, 

 etc.) Fort Whipple, Arizona (Cques, P. A. N. S. 1866, 62> 



Habits. This Flycatcher is a western form, closely allied to our eastern 

 E. flaviventris. It was met with by Dr. Coues in Arizona, where it was 

 rather rare, and appeared to be a suumier resident. It arri\es iu that 

 Territory about the middle of April, and remains there until the latter part 

 of September. Dr. Coues found it difficult to distinguish this form from 

 our eastern flaviventris. 



Dr. Cooper obtained at Monterey, Cal., specimens of the western tyjjes of 

 this bird, having darker markings on the wing, which, however, he regards 

 as only indicative of a young plumage, and not of specific distinctness. He 

 found these birds chiefly frequenting woods of Comfcrce, and very silent, 

 which, so far as the observation has any value, indicates a marked difference 

 between the eastern aud tlie western birds. 



The eggs of this species are also different from any of the eastern E. 

 flaviventris that I have ever seen, and are more like the eggs of E. trailli 

 than of the other species of Emjiidonaj: They measure .73 of an inch in 

 length, by .58 in breadth, have a creamy-white ground, marked at the 

 larger end with reddish-lirown and purplish markings. They are of an 

 oblong-oval shape. Sir. Ilidgwuy met with this species only once in his 

 western explorations, when he obtained a pair in a thick pine woods on tlie 

 Wahsatch Mountains, in June. They were exceedingly retiring, and fre- 

 quented dark woods, whose solitudes were shared besides only by the 

 Turdtis wuduboni and Myiadestes toivnsendi. Their note was a pit, much 

 more like that of some "Warblers than like the notes of the other Emjn- 

 donaccs. 



This species, called by !Mr. Grayson " The Lonely Flycatcher," was found 



