TYRANNUS. 329 



orange-colored patch in middle of crown ; wing-coverts and upper 

 tail-coverts without rusty or buffy margins. Young: No crown- 

 patch ; wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts more or less distinctly 

 bordered with pale rusty, ochraceous, or buffy. Length about 8.90- 

 9.80, wing 4.45-4.80, tail 3.50-4.05, bill from nostril .75-.82. Nest on 

 horizontal branches of (usually small) trees, loosely constructed of 

 twigs, roots, etc., with little if any lining. Eggs usually 3, 1.00 X 

 .71, deep cream-color or pinkish buff, spotted or dashed (or both) 

 with madder-brown and purplish gray. Hab. West Indies and 

 coasts of Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, north to Florida, 

 Georgia, and South Carolina ; accidental in Massachusetts. 



445. T. dominicensis (Gmel.). Gray Kingbird. 

 a?. Lower parts yellow, the throat and chest grayish or whitish. 



h^. Bill excessively stout, all its outlines convex, its depth at base .38, or more, 

 width .53, or more. 

 Above olive-gray, wings and tail brownei-, head darker ; crown-patch 

 lemon-yellow; chin and throat white, chest more ashy, rest of 

 under parts sulphur-yellow ; wing 5.00-5.50, tail 4.00-4.50, bill from 

 nostril .75-.81, depth at base .38-.43, width .53-.60. Hah. Mexico, 

 north to Orizaba and Mazatlan. 



T. crassirostris Swains. Thick-billed Kingbird.^ 

 h^. Bill much less stout, its outlines straight, depth at base less than .38, width 

 less than .53. 

 &. Tail decidedly emarginate ; length of bill from nostril nearly or quite 

 equal to length of tarsus. 



Adult male : Head, neck, chest, and back light ash-gray, the last 

 tinged with olive-greenish ; wings and tail dusky brownish 

 gray, with paler brownish gray edgings ; lower parts, in- 

 cluding breast, rich lemon-yellow (the breast tinged with 

 olive), the chin and throat grayish white. Adult female: 

 Similar to male, but rather smaller, with tail less deeply 

 emarginate, orange-red crown-spot more restricted, and quills 

 less conspicuously narrowed at tips. Young : Similar to adult, 

 but no colored crown-patch, wing-coverts bordered with pale 

 buffy, and yellow of lower parts paler. Length about 9.00- 

 10.00, wing 4.40-5.00, tail 3.75-4.40, bill from nostril .60-.75. 

 Nest on trees, composed of small twigs, fine roots, etc., and 

 lined with the latter, together with "the black bair-like heart 

 of the Spanish moss." (Sennett.) Eggs 4, .98 X -75, buff, 

 spotted with rich brown, chiefly round larger end. Hab. Mex- 

 ico and Guatemala, north to southern border of United States 

 (southern Texas to Arizona). 

 446. T. melancholicus couchi (Baird). Couch's Kingbird. 



1 Tyrannua a-assirostris Swains., Quar. Jour. Sci., xx. 1826, 278. 

 42 



