438 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — CLAM A TORES. 



the edges of the wing- and tail-feathers. The sexes are alike, the 9 averaging at the lesser 

 dimensions of the $ . 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, usuaUy 3.40 ; tail ahout the same, slightly eniargi- 

 nate; bill 0.50 or slightly more, little depressed, not so broad for its length as is usual in 

 Contopus and Empidonax, its lateral outlines straight ; tarsus equalling or slightly exceeding 

 the middle toe and claw, these together about 1.33 long ; point of the wing formed by the 2d 

 to 5th quill ; 2d shorter than 6th ; 3d and 4th generally a little the longest ; 1st shorter than 

 6th. Eastern U. S., and British Provinces, very abundant in open places, fields, along streams, 

 and almost as domestic as the barn swallow. One of the very earliest arrivals in spring, and a 

 late loiterer in fall ; winters abundantly in the Southern States. West to Dakota, Nebraska, 

 etc. Its ordinary note is harsh and abrupt, unlike the drawling pe-a-wee' of Contopus virens — 

 sounding \\ke pe-^cit' phe'-he, M'hence the name. The tyjjical nest is affixed to the side of a 

 vertical rock over water, often itself moist or dripping, and composed of mud, grass, and espe- 

 cially moss, making a pretty object, lined with hay or feathers. The bird now builds anywhere 

 about houses, bridges, and other buildings ; its attachment to particular spots is so strong that 

 it will return year after year, and often persist in nesting under the most discouraging circum- 

 stances. Eggs 4-5-6, 0.80 X 0.60, normally pure white, not seldom sparsely dotted. 

 122. CON'TOPUS. (Gr. kovtos, l-ontos, a pole or perch, and irovs, pons, foot. Fig. 280, c) Wood 

 Pewee Flycatchers. With the feet extremely small ; tarsus shorter or not longer than the 

 bill, shorter than the middle toe and claw (except in pertinax) ; the tarsus, middle toe, and 

 claw together, barely or not one-third as long as the wing ; bill flattened, very broad at base ; 

 wings pointed, much longer than the emarginate tail, the proportions of the primaries varying 

 with the species. Medium-sized and rather small species, brownish-olivaceous, without any 

 bright colors or very decided markings ; the coronal feathers lengthened and erectile, but hardly 

 forming a true crest. A small group of woodland species, near Empidonax, but characterized, 

 as above described, by the feeble diminutive feet. Nest on boughs ; eggs spotted. 



Analysis of Species. 

 Species 7-8 locg, with a tuft of white fluffy feathers on the flank. 



Under parts streaky. Wing pointed by 2d primary, supported nearly to end by 1st and 3d, 4th much 

 shorter. Tail about 3.00; wing about 4.00. Tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw. . . borealis 380 



Under parts more smooth in color. Wing pointed by 2d, 3d, and 4th quills, 1st much shorter; tail 



3.50or more; wing about 4.00. Tarsus not shorter than middle toe and claw pertinax 381 



Species under 7.00 long, without an evident cottony white tuft on the flank. 



Tarsus, middle toe, and claw together hardly or not 1.00 long virens 382, 383 



380. C. borea'lis. (Lat. borealis, northern.) Olive-sided Flycatcher. Dusky olivaceous- 

 brovm, usually darker on the crown, where the feathers have blackish centres, and paler on the 

 sides below ; chin, throat, belly, crissum, and middle line of breast, white, more or less tinged 

 with yellowish ; wings and tail blackish, unmarked, excepting inconspicuous grayish-brown 

 tips of the wing-coverts, and some whitish edging on the inner quills ; feet and upper mandible 

 black, lower mandible mostly yellowish. The olive-brown below has a peculiar streaky appear- 

 ance hardly seen in other species, and extends almost entirely across the breast. This ragged 

 aspect of mixed dusky-olive and whitish, together with the large white fluffy flank-tufts, is 

 diagnostic. Young may have the feathers, especially of the wings and tail, skirted Mdth rufous. 

 Length 7.00-8.00 ; wing 3.87-4.33, averaging 4.00, very long, folding to terminal third of tail, 

 and remarkably pointed; 2d quill longest, supported nearly to the end by the 1st and 3d, the 

 4th abruptly shorter; tail about 3.00, thus about f the wing, emarginate; tarsus only 0.50, 

 shorter than biU, or than middle toe and claw ; tarsus, middle toe, and claw together only about 

 1.25 ; bill 0.67-0.75. N. Am. at large, apparently nowhere very abundant, rather common in 

 some New England localities, very rare in the Middle and Southern States, less so in the West. 

 N. even to Greenland ; S. to Central America in winter. Breeds from New England north- 



