BIRDS — BOMBYCILLIDAE — MYIADESTES TOWSENDII. 321 



This genus diifers from Ptilogonys in having the bill narrower and much more depressed ; the 

 culmen nearly straight to the decurved tip ; the nostrils smaller. The tarsus is without 

 scutellae or feathers. The winga are much longer, more pointed, and much less graduated. 

 The tail well forked, and the lateral feathers is graduated ; all broader at the base, and 

 tapering towards the end. 



I describe this genus from M. townsendii, whicb belongs to it according to Cabanis, not 

 having a specimen of the type at hand. Its affinities are with Ptilogonys and Cichlopsis in many 

 respects. It differs in the tarsi without scales, the very short first, and the long second primary, 

 &c. In many respects it has relationshi]) with the Turdidae, but I am not sufficiently familiar 

 with exotic forms of the last mentioned family to come to any conclusion at present on the 

 subject.^ 



MYIADESTES TOWNSENDII, Cabanis. 



Townsend's Flycatcher. 



Ptiliogonys townsendii, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, May, 1839, 206 ; pi. 419, f. 9.— Ib. Syn. 1839, 46.— Ib. Birds Amer. I, 

 1840,243; pi. G9.— Towksend, Narrative, 1839, 338.— Nuttall, Man. 1, 2d ed. 1840, 

 361.— Gambel, Pr. A. N. Sc. I, 1843, 261. 



Culicivora townsendii, DeKat, N. Y. Zool. II, 1844, 110. 



Myiadestes townsendii, Cabanis, Wiegm. Arch. 1847, i, 208. 



? Jilijiadestes unicolor, Sclater, Pr. Zool. Soc. 1856, 299 ; 1857, 5. (Is very closely allied. Cordova, Mexico ) 



Sr. Cii. — Tail rather deeply forked. Exposed portion of spurious quill less than one-lliird that of the second ; fourth quill 

 longest ; second a little longer than the si.vtli. Head not crested. General color bluish ash, paler beneath ; under wing coverts 

 white. Quills with a brownish yellow bar at the base of both webs mostly concealed, but sliowing a liltle below the greater 

 coverts and alulae ; this succeeded by a bar of dusky, and ne.\t to it another of brownish yellow across the outer webs of the 

 central quills only. Tertials tipped with white] Tail feathers dark brown ; the middle ones more like the back ; the lateral 

 with the outer web and lip, the second witii the tip only, white. A white ring round the eye. 



Length, 8 inches ; wing, 4.50 ; tail, 3.85. (8234.) 



Hub. — United States from Rocky Mountains and Black Hills to the Pacific ; south to the borders of Mexico. 



In the series of specimens before me I can find none marked male ; they all, however, 

 agree very well in color, and it is probable that there is but little difference in the sexes. 



In some specimens there is a white bar across the ends of the greater wing coverts. 



In an immature specimen (8899,) from the Black Hills, the tarsus is distinctly scutellate, but 

 the external scales appear thin and very deciduous. It is quite possible that this species forma 

 no exception to the rule of the family in respect to the possession of scutellate tarsi, but that the 

 scutellae peel off in time, leaving a continuous plate beneath. 



This species is referred by Bonaparte, Cabanis, and other authors to the 3Iyiadestes dbscurus 

 of Lafresnaye. This is, however, a different bird, though closely allied, having a brownish olive 

 wash on the back and wings not seen in townsendii, and showing only very faintly the rusty 

 yellowish bases of the quills. The bill is broader and heavier, but the size, as shown in the 

 table of comparative measurements, is considerably smaller. 



The M. unicolor of Sclater, (Pr. Zool. Soc, 1856, 299, Cordova, Mexico,) is more nearly allied, 

 but is smaller, and appears to lack the rusty yellowish bases of the quills. 



'Since writing the preceding paragraph I have detected scutellae in a young .17. townsendii, which peeled off at touch, leavmg. 

 tho tarsi smooth. This fac*, therefore, ows the separation from the other genera to be not so great as was supposed. 



