302 Mr. O. Salvin's Synopsis 



' XXII. A Synopsis of the Genus Setophaga. 



By OsBERT Salvin, M.A., F.R.S., &c. 



(Plates VII. & VIII.) 



The genus Setophaga belongs to the American Passerine 

 family Mniotiltidse. One of its chief distinguishing charac- 

 ters is its broad Flycatcher-like bill and its strong rictal 

 bristles^ by which its likeness to the Flycatchers of the Old 

 World is still further enhanced. The presence of nine in- 

 stead of ten primaries, however, at once shows that the true 

 relationship of Setophaga is with the American Mniotiltidse, 

 and not with the Old-World Muscicapidse. 



The position of Setophaga in the Mniotiltidse is well 

 defined by Professor Baird, in his ' Review of American 

 Birds ; ' and I have no reason to dissent from the views there 

 put forward, except as regards a few minor matters of detail 

 which only relate to the grouping of the species together. 



In this work Professor Baird divides the Mniotiltidse into 

 four subfamilies, the last of which he calls Setophagina , 

 and in it he places all the broader-billed Mniotiltidse — Seto- 

 phaga, Basileuterus , Myiodioctes, and Cardellina. Of these 

 genera, Basileute7'us appears to be most nearly allied to 

 Setophaga, In Basileuterus the bill is more pointed, and not 

 so wide at the base in proportion to its length ; the rictal 

 bristles are not so well developed, and as regards coloration 

 the tail is always uniform in tint instead of having the outer 

 feathers more or less white on their proximal or distal halves. 



Setophaga is a genus having fairly definite characters. It 

 was first characterized by Swainson, in 1837, in the third 

 volume of the * Zoological Journal' (p. 360). Although 

 he states that he knew five members of the genus^ inhabiting 

 the temperate regions of America, Swainson only mentions 

 one by name — Muscicapa ruticilla, of Linnseus — which, 

 therefore, must be considered the type of the genus. The 

 same species was subsequently (1833) selected as the type 

 of his genus Sylvania by Nuttall, in his ' Manual of Orni- 

 thology' (i. p. 291)*. 



* In the second edition of his work Nuttall used this name in a dif- 

 ferent sense, applj'ing it to the birds now placed in the genus 3Iyiodioctes. 



