310 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



brown ; beneath yellow on anterior half as in adult, but yellow less pure ; rest of under 

 parts (except abdomen) ochraceous ; markings on head obsolete, the eyelids only being 

 distinctly white. 



Hab. Western and Middle Provinces of United States, east to Missouri River and 

 Texas ; Cape St. Lucas and Western Mexico. 



The most tangible difference between this bird and typical vircns con- 

 sists in tlie longer tail. In addition, the upper plumage is grayish, with 

 hardly any olive tinge, and the white maxillary stripe extends farther back ; 

 the bill is not so deep as that of the Eastern bird. All these differences, 

 however, are in strict accordance with various laws ; the more grayish cast 

 of plumage is what we should expect in birds from the Middle Province, 

 while the restriction of the yellow from the maxillae we see also in Western 

 specimens of Helminthophaga ruficajpilla ; the longer tail, also, is a well- 

 known characteristic of Western birds, as distinguished from Eastern of the 

 same si^ecies. 



Upon the whole, therefore, taking into consideration tlie absolute iden- 

 tity of their habits and notes, we can only consider the /. lonyicauda and 

 /. vircns as restricted, as being merely geographical races of one species. 



This variety, as well as the Eastern, has in autumn and winter a slightly 

 different plumage. A pair (53,348 $ , and 53,347 $ , AVest Humboldt Moun- 

 tains, Nevada) obtained September 4 differ in the following respects from 

 spring adults : the upper plumage is decidedly brown, with even a russet , 

 tinge, — not gray, with a greenish wash ; the lores are less purely black, and 

 the sides and crissum are deep cream-color, instead of pure white ; the female 

 has a shade of olive across the jugulum ; both male and female ha^'e the 

 lower mandible almost wholly white, and the commissure broadly edged with 

 the same. 



No. 38,402 $ , Laramie Peak, June, has tlie throat and jugulum strongly 

 stained with deep cadmium-orange. 



Habits. The Western or Long-tailed Chat has an exclusively Western dis- 

 tribution, and has been found from Mexico and Cape St. Lucas to Oregon, on 

 the Pacific coast, and as far to the east as the Upper Missouri. 



According to Dr. Cooper, these birds appear in San Diego and at Fort 

 IMojave in the latter part of April. They are said to inhabit chiefly the 

 Avarmer valleys near streams and marshes, rarely on the coast. At Fort Mo- 

 jave, Dr. Cooper found a nest of this bird May 19, built in a dense thicket of 

 algarobia. It contained three eggs, and one of tlie Molotlirus. The nest was 

 built of slender green twigs and leaves, lined with grass and hair. The eggs 

 were white, sprinkled with cinnamon, somewhat in the form of a ring near 

 the larger end, and measured .75 by .64 of an inch. 



These nests were usually very closely concealed, but one tliat he found at 

 Santa Cruz, near the coast, was in a very open situation, only two feet aboAe 

 the ground. When the nest is approaclied, the old birds are very bold, keep- ■ 

 ing up a constant scolding, and almost flying in the face of an intruder. At 



