252 EMPIDONAX TKAILLII, TRAILL's FLYCATCHER. 



uear Indianapolis. It was fully identified and the [taient shot. This 

 nest has a diameter of four inches and a height of two. Its base is 

 composed, to a large extent, of dry grasses, intermingled with masses 

 of withered blossoms of different herbaceous plants. Above this is 

 constructed a somewhat rudely-interwoven nest, composed of long, line, 

 wiry stems of grasses. The cavity is two inches wide, and is less than 

 one in depth. The eggs, three in number, are exceedingly beautiful, 

 and differ from all the eggs of this gemis, having more resemblance to 

 those of Contopi. They have an elongated oval shape, and are quite 

 pointed at one end. They measure 0,78 by O.-^G of an inch. Their 

 ground is a rich cream-color, tinged with a reddish-brown shading, and 

 at the larger end the eggs are irregularly marked with scattered and 

 vivid blotches of red and reddish-brown." 



EMPIDONAX TEAILLII, (Aud.) Bd. 



Traill's Flj catcher. 



a. traillii. 



Muscicapa traimi, Aud., Orn. Biog. i, 1832, 236; v, 1839, 426; pi. 45; Syn. 1839, 43; B. 

 Am. i, 1840, 234, pi. 65. 



Tyrannula fraillii, Rich., Rep. Br. Assoc. 18.37.— Bp., List, 1838, 24 ; Consp. i, 18.50, 189.— 

 WooDii., Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 74. 



Tyrannus traiUii, Nutt., Man. i, 1840, 323. 



MtfiohUis traUlU, Gray, Geuera of Birds, i, 249. 



Emindonax trnilUi, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 193. — Cab., Mus. Heiu. ii, 1859, 70 (reference to 

 Aiidubou is wrong). — ScL., Cat. 1862, 229.— Wheat., Ohio Agric. Rep. 1860, No. 

 50.— Couj]s & Prent., Smiths. Rep. 1861, 404.— Verk., Pr. Ess. Inst, iii, 146 

 (Norway, Me.). — Lawr., Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii, May, 1863 (New Granada); viii, 

 1866, 290 (New York); ix, 1868, 'll4 (Costa Rica); is, 1868, 202 (Yncatan).— 

 AxLEX, Pr. Ess. lust, iv, 1864, 54. — McIlwr., ibid, v, 1866, 84.— Coues, ibid, v, 

 1868, 265.— TuRXB., B. E. Pa. 1869, 13.— Mayx., Guide, 1870, 125 ; Pr. Bost. Soc. 

 1871, p. — .— Sxow, B. Kans. 1873, 3.— Allex, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 179 

 (Kansas). — Coues, Key, 1872, 175. 



Empidonax pusiUus var. traillii, B. B. «t R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 369, pi. 44, f. 8. 



b. pusillus. 



(?) Platyrhiinclms pusilhis, Sw., Syn. Mex. B. in Phil. Mag. i, 1827, 366. 



(?) Tyrannula pusilla, Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 144, pi. 46, upper fig. (uncertain — 

 just as likely to have been minimus). — Gamb., Pr. Phila. Acad, iii, 1847, 156. — 

 Bp., Consii. i, 1850, 189. 



Muscicapa pusiUa, Aud., Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 288, pi. 434; Syn. 1839, 44; B. Am. i, 1840, 

 236, pi. 66 (quotes " Labrador" and " Newfoundland "). 



Tyranmis pusilUts, NuTT., Man. i, 1840. 



Mtjiobim pmillus, Gjjay, Genera of Birds, i, 249. 



Empidonax puSiUm,{l)C\B., .J. f. 0. 1855,480. — Cab.. Mus. Hein. ii, 1859, 70 (Mexico). — 

 Bd., B. N. a. 18.58, 194.-Scl., Ibis, 1K59, 441; Cat. 1862, 229.— Coop. «fc Suck., 

 N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 170.— Coues, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 61.— Sumich., 

 Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1869, 557 (Vera Cruz).— S.vow, B. Kans. 1873, 4.— Aikex, 

 Pr. Bost. Soc. 1872, 206 (Wvoming).— Merr., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1872, 691.— 

 B. B. &. R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 366, pi. 44, f. 9. 



Empidonax traillii, CooP., B. Cal. i, 1870, 327. 



Empidonax traillii var. pusillus, CouES, Key, 1872, 175. 



Hab. — Eastern United States and British Provinces, west to the central plains, 

 whence to the Pacific replaced by VAV. 2»imlluH. South to New Granada. The western 

 form through Mexico. 



Late Expcdlions. — 81741-6, Ogden, Utah ; 61773, Idaho. 



I have found it impracticable to distinguish the western bird as a 

 species, and in treating it varietally it proves difiicult to assign any 

 very tangible chara(;ter.s. It may be noted, in this connection, that 

 Dr. Cooper has, on several occasions, insisted that the Californiau 

 bird is indistinguishable from traillii. Audubon's type was taken in 

 Arkansas, and he accredits the species with a range thence to the 



