82 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tana Eoo (Camp Mengel) ; south through Central America and South 

 America to Argentina (Rosas, Azul, and Zelaya). Several subspecies 

 in this range are recognized. 



Casual records. — ^While the species has been recorded on several 

 occasions in the United States, some of the records are misatisf actory 

 and cannot be fully accepted. Audubon reports taking one in June 

 1832 near Camden, N. J., and seeing two on the wing near Natchez, 

 Miss., in August 1822. Another one was brought to him at Henderson, 

 Ky. A specimen is said to have been taken at Lake Ridge, Lenawee 

 County, Mich., in July 1879, but apparently it has since been destroyed. 

 This also is the fate of one alleged to have been taken at Santa Monica, 

 Calif., late in the summer of 1883. There are indefinite reports of 

 occurrence in March 1847 and April 1849 in Bermuda. 



A specimen in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 

 labeled merelj^ "New Jersey" has been identified as Muscivora t. sanc- 

 taemartae; one is known to have been taken near Bridgeton. N. J., 

 during the first week in December, about 1820; another, taken near 

 Trenton in the fall of 1900, has since been lost; while one was seen 

 near Cape May Point during the first three days of November 1939. 

 A sight record for Massachusetts is one reported from Edgartown on 

 Marthas Vineyard, October 22, 1916. One taken at Marion, "Wash- 

 ington County, Maine, on December 1, 1908, has been identified as 

 M. t. tyrannus^ which also is the determination of a specimen collected 

 at Fox Chase, near Pliiladelphia, Pa., in the fall of 1873. 



Egg dates. — Argentina : 4 records, November 24 to December 13. 



Brazil : 4 records, November 9 to 23. 



British Honduras : 2 records, March 21 and May 20. 



Paraguay : 18 records, November 3 to December 4 ; 9 records, Novem- 

 ber 13 to 25, indicating the height of the season. 



MUSCIVORA FORFICATA (Gmelin) 



SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER 



Plate 8 



HABITS 



Its delicate and pleasing color contrasts, white, black, soft gray, 

 salmon-pink, and bright scarlet, its trim and graceful form, and its 

 spectacular behavior as an aerial acrobat, all combine to make the 

 scissor-tailed flycatcher one of the most attractive of North American 

 birds. The traveler in Texas cannot fail to notice this charming bird, 

 where it is universally common, or even abundant, and everywhere 

 conspicuous. 



Its breeding range extends from southern Nebraska to southern 

 Texas, with casual breeding records in neighboring States. But it 



