522 SYSTE3IA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — CLAMA TORES. 



S. say'a. (To Thos. Say.) Say's Pewit Flycatcher. Sayax Phcebe. Adult '^ 9 : 

 Grayish-brown, sometimes witli faiut olivaceous tinge, rather darker on head, where the 

 feathers have dusky centres, paler on throat and breast, then changing to cinnamon-brown on 

 the rest of under parts. Wings dusky, lined with tawny-whitish, edged with whitish on coverts 

 and inner quills. Tail perfectly black. Bill and feet black. Iris dark brown. Length about 

 7.50; extent 11.00; wing 3.75-4.35 ; tail 3.25-3.50; bill 0.50-0.60, narrow and slender for a 

 Flycatcher; tarsus 0.80; middle toe and claw 0.67. Young: More extensively fulvous or 

 paler cinnamon than the adults, this color extending far up the breast, skirting the feathers 

 of back and rump, forming conspicuous cross-bars and edgings on wings, and even tipping tail. 

 But no other bird of our country resembles this one. Western U. S. and British Provinces, N. 

 to Arctic regions in Alaska, E. to Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc., S. in Lower California and 

 Mexico ; accidental in Massachusetts ; common in open or rocky country, where seen singly or 

 in pairs ; the principal Flycatcher of univooded regions, in weedy, brushy places, displaying the 

 usual activity of its tribe, and uttering a melancholy note of one syllable, or a tremulous twit- 

 ter. Nests naturally on rocks, but soon adapts itself to buildings like the eastern Pewee. 

 Nest of mud, straw, moss, feathers, etc. ; eggs 3-6, usually 4-5, 0.80 x 0.60. {Sayiornis saiji 

 of 2d-4th eds. of the Key.) 



S. nig'ricans. (Lat. nigricans, blackening.) Black Pewit Flycatcher. Black Phcebe. 

 Spiuer-bird. Adult ^ 9 '• Sooty-brown or blackish, deepest on head and breast ; belly and 

 other under parts pure white, abruptly defined ; lining of wings, outer web of outer tail-feathers, 

 and edges of inner secondaries, whitish ; bill and feet black ; iris red. The coloration is curi- 

 ously like that of J"i<HCO kiemalis. Length about 7.00; wing 3.50-3.75 ; tail 3.25-3.50; bill 

 0..50 or less, very weak; tarsus 0.67; middle toe and claw 0.60. Southwestern U. S. and 

 southward, but on the Pacific to Oregon, rarely to Washington; S. through Lower California 

 and Mexico to Oaxaca ; chiefly in unwooded country, and especially along rocky streams, and 

 in canons — I have seen it at the bottom of the Grand Canon of the Colorado, some 6,000 feet 

 below the surface of the earth ! Breeds throughout its U. S. range, April and later northward : 

 resident southerly. Nest of mud, etc., on rocks and walls ; eggs 3-6, usually 4 or 5, averaging 

 0.75 X 0.56, ranging in length from 0.70 to 0.80. 



(Subgenus Empidias.) 

 S. phoe'be. (Name in form Gr. (fioi^r], Phoibe, Lat. Phoebe, a Titaness, daughter of Uranus 

 and Gsea ; also, a title or surname of Diana, as the Moon goddess ; but as applied to this bird 

 probably a mere onomatopoeia, like " pewit " and " pewee." Fig. 350.) Pewit Flycatcher. 

 Water Pewee. Bridge Phcebe. Phcebe-bird. Adult ^ 9 '■ Dull olivaceous-brown ; head 

 much darker fuscous brown, almost blackish, usually in marked contrast with back ; below, 

 soiled whitish, or palest possible yellow, particularly on belly ; sides, and breast nearly or 

 quite across, shaded with grayish-brown ; wings and tail dusky ; outer tail-feather, inner sec- 

 ondaries, and usually v^'ing-coverts, edged with whitish ; a whitish ring round eye ; bill and feet 

 black. Varies greatly in shade ; the foregoing is the average spring condition. As summer 

 passes, plumage becomes much duller and darker brown, from wearing of the feathers; then, 

 after moult, fall specimens are much brighter than in spring, the under parts being decidedly 

 yellow, at least on the belly. Very young birds have some feathers skirted with rusty, par- 

 ticularly on edges of wing- and tail-feathers. Sexes alike ; 9 averaging at the lesser dimen- 

 sions of ^. The species requires careful discrimination, in the hands of a novice, from any of 

 the little olivaceous species of the next two genera. It is larger ; length 6.75-7.25 ; extent 

 10.75-11.75; wing 3.00-3..50, usually 3.40 ; tail about the same, slightly emarginate; bill 0.50 

 or slightly more, little depressed, not so broad for its length as is usual in Contopus and Empi- 

 donax, its lateral outlines straight ; tarsus equalling or slightly exceeding middle toe and claw, 

 these together about 1.-33 ; point of wing formed by 2d-5th quill; 2d shorter than 6th ; 3d and 



