BIRDS— SYLVICOLIDAE — MYIODIOCTES PUSILLUS. 293 



PMYIODIOCTES MINUTUS. 



Small-headed Flycatcher. 



J\IusHcapa minuta, Wilson, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 62 ; pi. 1, f. 5.— Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 291 ; pi. 434, f. 3.— 1b. 



Syn. 1839, 44.— 1b. Birds Amer. I, 1840, 238 ; pi. 67. 

 Sylvia minuta, Bonap. Obs. Wils. 1826, No. 128. 

 Wilsonia minuta, Bonap. List, 1838. 

 Sylvania pumilia, Nkttall, Man. 1, 2d ed. 1840, 334. (Not Sylvia pumilia, Vieillot.) 



Sp. Ch. — " Wings short, the second quills longest. Tail of moderate length, even. General color of upper parts light greenish 

 brown ; wings and tail dark olive brown, the outer feathers of the latter with a terminal white spot on the inner web ; a narrow 

 white ring surrounding the eye ; two bands of dull white on the wings ; sides of the head and neck greenish yellow ; the rest 

 of the lower parts pale yellow, gradually fading into white behind. Male, 5 inches long ; extent 8j inches." 



Hab. — Eastern Atlantic States. 



I have never seen a specimen of the small-headed flycatcher, and copy the preceding descrip- 

 tion from Audubon. It seems to be a perfectly distinct species from any other I have described, 

 and evidently belongs to the Oscines rather than to the Tyrannulas {Clamatores.) Audubon 

 expressly mentions that it has several rather pleasing notes. The white spots on the tail dis- 

 tinguish it readily from any of our true tyrant flycatchers. The introduction of the bird into 

 the genus Mijiodioctes is purely conjectural, although its affinities seem nearest to the hooded 

 warbler. 



MYIODIOCTES PUSILLUS, Bonap. 



Green Black-cap Flycatcher. 



Muscicapa pusilla, Wi ov. Am. Orn. Ill, 1811, 103 ; pi. .xxvi, f. 4. 



Wilsonia pusilla, Bonap. List, 1838. 



Sylvania pusilla, Nuttall, Man. I, 2d ed. 1840, 335. 



,T\jyiodiectes pusillus, Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 315. 



Myioctonus pusillus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 18. 



Sylvia wilsonii, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1826, No. 127.— Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 408. 



Muscicapa wilsonii, Ann. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 148; pi. 124. 



Setophaga wilsonii, Jard. ed. Wilson, 1832. 



Myiodioctes wilsonii, Aud. Syn. 1839, 50. — Ib. Birds Am. II, 1841, 21 ; pi. 75. 



" Sylvia petasode^? Light." (Bonap. Consp.) 



Sp. Ch. — Forehead, line over and around the eye, and under parts generally bright yellow. Upper part olive green ; a 

 square patch on the crown lustrous black. Sides of body and cheeks tinged with olive. No white on wings or tail. Female 

 similar ; the black of the crown obscu'ed by olive green. 



Length, 4.75 ; wing, 2.25 ; tail, 2.30. 



Hab. — United States from Atlantic to Pacific ; south to Guatemala. 



The wings are moderate ; the second, third, and fourth quills considerably longest and nearly 

 equal ; the first longer than the fourth. The tail is rather long and graduated ; the lateral 

 feathers .25 of an inch shorter than the middle. 



Specimens difier in some respects. Thus, among those from the Pacific coast, some, as 7678, 

 have longer wings than those before me from the Atlantic States. No. 7683, from California, 

 has a broader frontlet of yellow, a richer yellow beneath, a lighter olive of the back, and a con- 

 siderably smaller and slenderer bill. Other specimens, however, from the same localities agree 

 precisely with Pennsylvania ones. 



