BIRDS — TYEANNINAE — PYBOCEPnALUS RUBINEUS. 



201 



PYROCEPHALUS, Gould. 



Pyrocephalus, GonLD, Zool. of Beagle, 1838, 44. 



Ch. — ^Tarsus moderate, very little longer than the middle toe ; hind toe not longer than the lateral. Bill slender, very 

 narrow at the base. Tail broad, even, considerably shorter than the wings, (about four-fifths,) which reach beyond the middle 

 of the tail. First quill shorter than the fifth. Head with a conspicuous rounded crest. Sexes dissimilar. Male with the 

 crown and beneath red ; tail, back, and wings brown. 



This genus is shaped something like Saxicola. Its single North American species is readily 

 distinguished among other flycatchers hy the bright red of the under parts. 



PYROCEPHALUS RUBINEUS, Gray. 



Red Flycatcher. 



" Muscicapa rubineus, Boddaert, Tableau des PI. Enl. BuiFon, 1783, 42." 



Pyrocephalus rubineus, Gray, Genera, I. 250 Lawrekce, Annals N. Y. Lye. V, May, 1851, 115 Cassin, 111 I, it 



1853, 127; pi. xvii. 

 Muscicapa coronata, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1, 1788, 932.— Wagler, Isis, 1831, 529. 

 PyrocepKalus nanus, Woodhouse, Sitgreave's Report, 1853, 75. 



Sp. Ch. — Head with a full rounded or globular crest. Tail even. Crown and whole under parts bright carmine red ; rest of 

 upper parts, including the cheeks as far as the bill, dull dark brown ; the upper tail coverts darker ; the tail almost black 5 

 greater and middle wing coverts and edges of secondaries and tertials dull white towards the edges. Outer web of exterror tail 

 feather and tips of all the tail feathers whitish. 



Female similar, without the crest ; the crown brown, like the back ; the under parts wliitish anteriorly, streaked with brown ; 

 behind white, tinged with red or ochraceous. Length of male, about 5.50 ; wing, 3.25 ; tail, 2.75. 



Hub. — Valleys of Rio Grande and Gila southward. 



In this species the second, third, and fourth quills are longest ; the first intermediate between 

 the fifth and sixth. The red tipped feathers are all white in their middle portion. The shade 

 of red varies with specimens, and in winter the red feathers appear to be tipped with grayish. 

 The shade of red on the belly of the female varies considerably, sometimes being even of an 

 ochraceous yellow. 



Tlie specimen collected at Quihi, Texas, by Dr. Woodhouse, and referred to P. nanus on 

 account of the very short tail, is moulting, and the tail feathers are not fully grown out. 



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