442 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES— CLAM A TORES. 



to Dakota and Missouri ; migrating through all the E. U. S., wintering beyond. Nest in trees 

 or bushes, usually the latter, in New England at any rate; nest in an upright crotch, thick- 

 walled, deeply-cupped, more or less com pact- walled, sometimes slovenly and resembling that of 

 an Indigo-bird ; in any case different entirely from the Hat pewee-like saucer of acadicus; eggs 

 not distinguishable from those of acadicus, though averaging smaller ; very different from those 

 of minimus. Note a flat ke'-wink ke'-wink, slowly. 



386. E. pusil'lus. (Lat. pusillus, puerile, petty.) Little Western Flycatcher. Replaces 

 true trailli from the Plains to the Pacific ; may usually be recognized by its more fuscous color- 

 ation, the olivaceous and yellowish shades of trailli being subdued ; by its larger bill, and the 

 feet nearly as in acadicus. But are not specimens absolutely like trailli found in the West ? 

 The original Tyrannula pusilla of Sw., Fn. Bor.-Am., ii, 1831, 144 ; Aud., B. Am., 8vo. ed. 

 ii, 1840, 236, pi. 66, is uncertain, just as likely have been minimus as this bird. I therefore 

 pass over the name, which, if belonging here, antedates trailli, and adopt trailli for the eastern 

 form (although Audubon says *' Arkansas to the Columbia"), taking pusillus of Baird for the 

 Western variety. This is the usual " little flycatcher " in Western woodland, generally dis- 

 tributed. Habits, nest and eggs counterparts of those of trailli. 



387 E. mi'nimus. (Lat. minimus, smallest.) Least Flycatcher. Colors almost exactly as 

 in trailli; usually, however, olive-gray rather than olive-brown ; the wing-markings, eye-ring 

 and loral feathers plain grayish- white; the whole anterior parts often with a slight ashy cast ; 

 under mandible ordinarily dusky ; feet perfectly black. It is a smaller bird than trailli, and 

 not so stoutly built ; the wing-tip projects only about half an inch beyond the secondaries ; the 

 5th quill is but very little shorter than the 4th, the 1st apt to be nearer 6th than 5th ; the feet 

 are differently proportioned, being much as in acadicus; the bill is obviously under half an 

 inch long. Length 5.00-5.50; extent about 8.00; wing 2.60 or less; tail about 2.25. A 

 series of $ ^, measured fresh, runs 5.20-5.50 long, by 7.60-8.30 in extent; several 9 9 are 

 4.80-5.10 long, by 7.40-7.90 in extent. Although a large ^ may grade up to 9 trailli in 

 size, and there is no obviously different coloration, it is a diffei'ent bird. Eastern N. Am. to the 

 Plains, very abundant in the U. S. during the migrations, in orchards, coppices, hedgerows, and 

 the skirts of woods rather than in heavy forests. The commonest breeder in New England, 

 especially Massachusetts ; very common along Red River of the North, breeding at 49°. Ranges 

 through E. U. S. in migration ; winters extralimital. Nest in upright crotch of tree, shrub, 

 or sapling; small, neat, compact-walled, deeply-cupped; eggs 3-4, white, normally unmarked, 

 rarely speckled, 0.60-0.69 long, averaging 0.65 X 0.51. Note a sharp che-bec', or se-wick', 

 quickly. 



388. E. flaviven'tris. (Lat. flavus, yellow, ventris, of the belly.) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 

 Above, olive-(/rreew, clear, continuous and uniform as in acadicus, or even brighter ; below, not 

 merely yellowish, as in the foregoing, but emphatically yellow, bright and pure on the belly, 

 shaded on the sides and anteriorly with a paler tint of the color of the back ; eye-ring and wing- 

 markings yellow; under mandible yellow ; feet black. In respect of color, this species differs 

 materially from all the rest ; none of them, even at their autumnal yellowest, quite match it. 

 Size of trailli, or rather less ; feet proportioned as in acadicus; bill nearly as in minimus, but 

 rather larger ; 1st quill usually equal to 6th. Eastern U. S. and British Provinces, common, 

 in woodland, swamps and shrubbery. Breeds probably from the Middle States northward. 

 There has been much misunderstanding about the nest and eggs of this bird ; the latter are 

 described by Brewer and by Coues (1874) as white. Nest in swamps, close to ground, in a 

 stump, log, or roots of an upturned tree, thick and bulky, of mosses, etc., deeply cupped; 

 eggs spotted. Note a low soft j)e-a, slowly. 



389. E. f . diffl'cilis ? (Lat. difficilis, dis-facilis, diflScult, un-doable; very appropriate !) Western 

 Yellov^^-bellied Fly'CATcher. Not tangibly distinct from flaviventris; coloration dingy, 

 instead of pure olivaceous and yellow, the latter dulled with an ochrey shade ; tail said to be 

 longer. Western U. S., abundant. Eggs speckled. 



