264 



S YS TEMA TIC S Y NOP SIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



yellowish -white. Wings and tail dusky, strongly edged with yellowish, the inner wing-quills 

 with whitish. On the secondaries, this yellowish edging stops abruptly in advance of ends of 

 coverts, leaving a pure blackish interval in advance of white tips of greater coverts ; this, and 

 similar tips of median coverts, form two white bars across wings ; inner webs of quills and tail- 

 feathers edged with white. Superciliary line and extreme forehead hoary-whitish. Crown 

 black, enclosing a large flame-colored space, bordered with pure yellow. The black reaches 

 across forehead; but behind, the yellow and flame-color reach the general olive of upper parts. 

 Or, top of head may be described as a central bed of flame-color, bounded in front and on sides 

 with clear yellow, this similarly bounded by black, this again in same manner by hoary-whitish. 

 Smaller than B. calendula ; overlying nasal plumes larger. Length 4.00 ; extent 6.50-7.00 ; 

 wing 2.00-2.12; tail 1.67. 9, adult, and young: Similar to adult $, but central field of 

 crown entirely yellow, enclosed in black (no flame-color). N. Am. at large ; another exquisite, 

 abundant in woodland and shrubbery, breeding in various mountains of U. S. and from north- 

 ern parts northward, wintering in most of the U. S., and also extending S. to Central America. 

 Nest pensile or not, of moss, hair, feathers, etc., about 4.50 in diameter, on high or low bough 

 of a tree, preferably evergreen; eggs 6-10, 0.50 X 0.40, white, fully speckled. 

 R. s. oliva'ceus? (Lat. olivaceus, olivaceous; oliva, an olive.) Western Golden-crested 

 Kinglet. Said to be of livelier coloration than the last. Pacific coast region of California 

 and northward. 



Obs. — JJ. cuvieri, Aud,, Orn. Biogr., i, 1832, p. 288, pi. 55, and B. Am., ii, 1841, p. 1G3, pi. 131 ; Nutt., Man., 1, 1832, 

 p. 416; Schuylkill River, Pa., June 8, 1812, said to have two black stripes on each side of head, continues unknown; 

 A. O. U. Hypothetical List No. 26. —iJ. tricolor, Nutt., Man., i, 1832, p. 420, is JR. satrapa; so is his R. cristaius, which 

 latter is the name of the European Gold-crest, not found in N. Am. 



Subfamily POLIOPTILIN/E: Cnat-catchers. 



chiefly Central and 



sometimes associ- 



Sylviine. Some au- 



uear the Old World 



X, 1885, p. 440). 



America the family 



from the New World. 



A small group of one genus and about a dozen species. 

 South American; peculiar to America. Polioptila has been 

 ated with Paridte, but differs decidedly and is apparently 

 thors believe it to be Muscicapine, and would place it 

 genus Stenostira (see Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., 

 Should this view be correct, it would add to North 

 MuscicapidcB, which has been supposed to be absent 



' " " Cluiracters those of the 



single genus. 

 POLIOPTILA. (Gr. TroXtoj, 

 polios, hoary ; tttiXoi/, ptilon, a 

 feather; the primaries being 

 edged with whitish.) Gnat- 

 catchers. Tarsi scutellate. 

 Toes very short, the lateral 

 only about half as long as tar- 

 sus; outer a little longer than, 

 inner. 1st primary spurious, 

 about ^ as long as 2d. Wings 

 rounded, not longer than the 

 graduated tail, whose feathers widen toward their rounded ends. Bill shorter than head, 

 straight, broad and depressed at base, rapidly narrowing to the very slender, distinctly notched 

 and hooked end — thus Muscicapine in character. Rictus with well-developed bristles. Nos- 

 trils entirely exposed. Coloration without bright tints; bluish-ash, paler or white below; tail 



• Blue-gray Gnat-catcher, nat 



(Ad nat. del. E. C.) 



