BIRDS OP NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 687 



side of the tarsus;" basal phalanx of middle toe united to outer toe 

 by about half to decidedly more than half its lon<:;th, to inner toe for 

 less (sometimes much less) than half its len^tli; outer toe, without 

 claw, reaching to or slightly beyond mi(klle of subterminal phalanx 

 of middle toe, the inner toe more or less distinctly (never conspicu- 

 ously) shorter; hallux shorter than inner toe, not conspicuously 

 stouter, its claw shorter than the digit; all the claws moderate in 

 size, curvature, etc. 



Coloration. — (a) Above black (the back and scapulars slaty), wings 

 with narrow white edgings and tail tipped -with white; under parts 

 white (T. tyrannus). (h) Above gray, or grayish brow^n with dusky 

 head, tli(> wings with broad paler edgings; under parts grapsh white 

 (T. dominicensis, T. cuhensis). (c) Above grayish brown or grayish 

 olive; under parts grayish white anteriorly, pale yellow posteriorly. 

 {T. crassirostris). (d) Above gray with blackish tail and grayish 

 brown wings, the back and scapulars olive-greenish or tinged with 

 same; under parts light to bright yellow, throat or chin white, chest 

 usually gray (T. vociferans, T. verticalis, T. melancholicus, T.ayolites, 

 T. albogularis, T. niveigularis) . 



JVid.irfi cation. — Nest open above (cup- or bowl-shaped), placed in 

 trees, varying in composition according to species and locality. Eggs 

 white or more or less deeply buffy, spotted with reddish brown, black, 

 lavender, etc. 



Range. — The whole of temperate and tropical America, including 

 West Indies but excluding Galapagos Archipelago. (Ten species, not 

 counting subspecies.) 



The genus Tyrannus as characterized above is a decidedly hetero- 

 geneous group and, I feel quite sure, includes too many forms and 

 therefore requires restriction; but I have not been able to satisfac- 

 torily subdivide it, partly for the reason that I have not been able to 

 examine two of the species (T. apolites and T. niveigularis), each of 

 which would of course be an important factor in any satisfactory 

 subdivision that might be made. When all the species can be brought 

 together and carefully studied, I believe that three genera can be 

 characterized, as indicated in the following "key:" 



KEY TO THE SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OK TYRANNUS. 



a. Tail even or slightly rounded, less than three-fourths as long as wing; exposed cul- 



men shorter than tarsus, the latter more than one-seventh as long as wing. 



6. Tenth ( outermost) primary as long as or longer than si'venth; under parts wliite, 



upper parts blackish, the tail tipped with white. iTijrannu.^.) (Temperate 



North America, south in winter to Bolivia and Peru. ). Tyrannus tyrannus ( i).689) 



hh. Tenth (outermost ) primary shorter than sev«>nth (sometimes shorter than iiflh); 



under parts mostly y(>llow, upper parts gray and olive, the tail black or dusky 



l)ut not tipped with wliite. (Satellus.) 



« The only exceptions noted are in 7'. codfcrans, T. verticalis and T. dominiceims, 

 in specimens examined of which there is a more or less distinct separate series of small 

 scutella along the upper posterior margin of the outer side. 



