TYRANNIDiE — THE TYRANT FLYCATCHERS — PYROCEPHALUS. 333 

 Pyrocephalus Mexicanus, Sclater. 



THE KED FLYCATCHEE. 



Pyrocephalus ^fe.rica7nls, Sclater, Pr. Zool. Soc. 1859, 45. — CouES, Pr. rhil. Ac. 1866, 64. 

 Pyrocepliahis ru'iineiis, Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lye. V. May, 1851, 115. — Cassin, Illust. I. 



iv. 185.3, 127 ; pi. xvii. — Baird, P. R. Kep. IX. Birds, 201. — Heekmann, X. vi. 38. 

 Pyrocephalus nanus, WooDHOUSE, Sitgreavc's Kcport, 185.3, 75. 



Sp. Char. He'iid witli a full rounded or globular crest. Tail even. Crown and wliole 

 under parts bright carmine red ; rest of upper parts, including the cheeks as far as the 

 bill, dull dark brown ; the upper tail coverts darker ; the tail almost black ; greater and 

 middle wing coverts and edges of secondaries and tertials dull white towards the edges. 

 Outer web of exterior tail leather and tips of all the tail It^athers whitish. 



Female, similar, without the crest ; the crown brown, like the back ; the under parts 

 whitish anteriorly, streaked with brown ; behind white, tinged with red or ochraceous. 

 Length of male, about 5.50 ; wing, 3 25 ; tail, 2.75. (Baird.) 



Hab. Valleys of Rio Grande and Gila southward. Colorado Valley, California, south 

 to Honduras. 



On the 24tli of May, 1861, I saw at Fort Mojave a small brilliant red 

 bird, which I supposed must have been of the above species. It perched on 

 the top of bushes, and would not allow me to approach within shooting dis- 

 tance, always flying off for several hundred yards before alighting again. 



According to Dr. Heermann, they are quite common in spring at Fort 

 Yuma, and he noted exactly the same wild habits above mentioned. Lieu- 

 tenant Couch describes its habits as like those of a flycatcher, and its note 

 as a low chirp. 



One has since been obtained by Mr. W. W. Holder in Colorado Valley, 

 lat. 34", on April 18th. 



The Xorth American species, originally supposed to be identical with that 

 inhabiting Soutli America, has lately been described by Dr. Sclater as dis- 

 tinct. It may, however, perhaps be faii'ly questioned whether here, as in 

 many other instances, there is anything more than a .slight difference ijro- 

 duced by peculiarities of climate, etc. 



