THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 209 



but strongly concave; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lower jaw as 

 convex as the commissure is concave; no notch in the bill, and the rictal bristles 

 small; tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellie, except faint indications on the 

 inner side; lateral toes about equal, shorter than the hinder; wings about equal to 

 the tail, rounded; the first quill longer than the secondaries; tail graduated, above 

 olive, beneath yellow; abdomen, eyelids, maxillary patch, and line to the bill, 

 white. 



ICTERIA VIRIDIS. — Bonaparte. 



The Yellow-breasted Chat. 



Muscicapa viridis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., L (1788) 936. 



Icteria viridis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wilson (1826), No. 163. Nutt. Man., I. (1832) 

 289. And. Orn. Biog., H. (1834) 223; V. 433. 



Pipra polyc/lotta, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 90. 



Description. 



Third and fourth quills longest, second and fifth little shorter, first nearly equal 

 to the sixth; tail graduated; upper parts uniform olive-green ; under parts, including 

 the inside of wing, gamboge-3'ellow as far as nearly half-way from the point of the 

 bill to the tip of the tail ; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides ; 

 the outer side of the tibia plumbeous; a slight tinge of orange across the breast; 

 forehead and sides of the head ash, the lores and region below the eye blackish ; 

 a white stripe ft-om the nostrils over the ej'e and involving the upper eyelid; a patch 

 on the lower lid, and a short stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and running 

 to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white; bill blaclt; feet brown. 

 Female like the male, but smaller ; the markings indistinct ; the lower mandible not 

 pure-black. 



Length, seven and forty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and twenty-five 

 one-hundredths ; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths inches. 



Massachusetts seems to be the northern limit of this 

 bird's habitat in New England ; and, even in this State, it is 

 a very rare species. Every season, for the last three years, a 

 pair has nested near Lynn, in this State ; and Mr. Allen 

 says, tliat they are sometimes seen, in the breeding season, 

 near Springfield. I have seen great numbers of these birds 

 in the Western States ; their habits, song, &c., are well 

 described by Nnttall in the following : 



"The males, as in many other migrating birds, who are not 

 continually paired, arrive several days before the females. As 

 soon as our bird has chosen his retreat, which is commonly in some 

 thorny or viny thicket, where he can obtain concealment, he becomes 

 jealous of his assumed rights, and resents the least intrusion, scold- 

 ing all who approach in a variety of odd and uncouth tones, very 



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