TYRANNID^ — TYBANNINJE : TYRANT FLYCATCHERS. 



437 



Id Contopus). Bill narrower than in the other little Flycatchers, with nearly straight lateral 

 outlines, its width at base about i the length of culmen. Wing pointed by 2d-5th quills, Ist 

 shorter than 6th. Tail about as long as wing, emarginate, with broad feathers tending to 

 divaricate in the middle. One Eastern, two Western species. Nest affixed to rocks and 

 buildings, with mud ; eggs normally white, unmarked. 



Analysis qf Species. 



Asliy-brown, with cinnamon belly and black tail sayi 377 



Blackish, wltli white belly nigricans 378 



Olivaceoua and yellowish . fiisca 379 



S. say'i. (To Thos. Say.) Say's Pewit Flycatcher. ^ 9 > adult : Grayish-brown, some- 

 times with faint olivaceous tinge, rather darker on liead, where the feathers have dusky centres, 

 paler on throat and breast, then changing to cinnamon-brown on the rest tif the under parts. 

 Wings dusky, lined with tawny- whitish, edged with whitish on the coverts and inner quills. 

 Tail perfectly black. Bill and feet black. Iris dark brown. Length about 7.00 ; 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 the back and rump, form- 

 ing conspicuous cross-bars and edgings on the wings, and even tipping the tail. But no bird 

 of our country resembles this one. Western U. S. and adjoining British Provinces, E. to 

 Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc., common in open or rocky country, where seen singly or in 

 pairs ; the principal flycatcher of tmwooded regions, in weedy, brushy places, displaying the 

 usual activity of its tribe, and uttering a melancholy note of one syllable, or a tremulous twitter. 

 Nests naturally on rocks, but soon adapts itself to buildings like the Eastern Pewee. Nest of 

 mud, straw, moss, feathers; eggs 4-5, 0.80 X 0.62, white. 



S. nig'ricans. (Lat. nigricans, blackening.) Black Pew^it Flycatcher. 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 curiously like that of Jimco hiemalis. Lengtli about 

 7.00 ; wing 3.50-3.75 ; tail 3.25-3.50 ; biU 0.50 or less, 

 very weak ; tarsus 0.67 ; middle toe and claw 0.60. South- 

 western U. S. and southward, but on the Pacific to Oregon; 

 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 ! Nest of mud, etc., on rocks and 

 walls; eggs 0.75 X 0.56, white. 



S. fus'ca. (Lat. fusca, brown. Fig. 286.) Pewit Fly- 

 catcher. Water Pewee. Pewit. Phcebe. Dull oli- 

 vaceous-brown, the head much darker fuscous-brown, 

 almost blackish, usually in marked contrast with the back ; 

 below, soiled whitish, or palest possible yellow, particularly 

 on the belly ; the sides, and the breast nearly or quite across, ^^ " ^^B " ^ 

 shaded with grayish-brown ; wings and tail dusky, the outer 



tail-feather, inner secondaries, and usually the wing-coverts, gmj^ %i^^> 



edged with whitish ; a whitish ring round the eye ; bill and ^^ ^^> 



feet black. Varies greatly in shade; the foregoing is the Fig. 286.- Pewit Flycatcher, reduced, 

 average spring condition. As summer passes, the plumage (S'leppard del. Nichols sc.) 

 becomes much duller and darker brown, from wearing of the feathers; then, after the 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, partienlarly on 



