350 



NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Genus CONTOPUS, Cabanis. 



Contopus, Cabanis, Journ. fiir Ornith. Ill, Nov. 1855, 479. (Type, Musciccqm virens, L.) 



Gen. Char. Tarsus very short, but stout ; less than the middle toe and scarcely longer 

 than the hmder ; considerably less than the culmen. Bill quite broad at the base ; wider 



than half the culmen. Tail 

 moderately forked. Wings 

 very long and mnch pointed, 

 reaching beyond the middle 

 of the tail ; the first primary 

 about equal to the fourth. All 

 the primaries slender and rath- 

 er acute, but not attenuated. 

 Head moderately crested. Col- 

 or olive above, pale yellowish 

 beneath, with a darker patch 

 on the sides of the breast. 

 Under tail-coverts streaked in 

 most species. A tuft of cottony- 

 white feathers on each side of 

 the rump (concealed in most 

 species). 



Contopus borealis. 



This genus is pre-eminently characterized among North American Fly- 

 catchers by the very short tarsi, and the long and much pointed wings. 



In most other genera, as Sm/oris, Mijiarchus, and Empidonax, a trace of a 

 cottony tuft may be discovered by careful search on the tlanks ; but in the 

 present genus, there is, in addition, the tufts on the rump, not found in the 

 others. The species are as follows : — 



Species and Varieties. 



A. Cottony patch of white feathers on sides of the rump greatly developed, and 

 conspicuous. Rictal bristles very short (about one fourth the length of the bill). 

 Lower parts distinctly and abruptly white medially (somewhat interrupted on 

 the breast). 



1. C. borealis. First quill longer than the fourth, generally exceed- 

 ing the third. Wing, 4.00 to 4.40 ; tail, 2.90 to 3.00; culmen, .90; 

 tarsus, .60. Above dark olive-plumbeous, the tertials edged with 

 whitish ; lower parts a lighter shade of the same, laterally and across 

 the breast (narrowly), the throat and middle line of the abdomen 

 being abruptly white. Young not different. Hah. Northern parts of 

 North America, to the north border of United States ; on the mountain- 

 ranges, farther south, on the interior ranges, penetrating through Mexico 

 to Costa Rica. 



B. Cottony patch on side of rump rudimentary and concealed. Rictal bristles 

 strong (one half, or more, the length of the bill). Lower parts not distinctly 

 white medially. 



a. First primary shorter than fifth, but exceeding the sixth. Tail shorter 

 than wing's. 



