we 
THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 209 
but strongly concave; the gonys nearly straight, the upper edge of the lower jaw as 
convex as the commissure is concave; no notch in the bill, and the rictal bristles 
small; tarsi longer than the toes, without scutellz, except faint indications on the 
inner side; lateral toes about equal, shorter than the hinder; wings about equal to 
the tail, rounded; the first quill longer than the secondaries; tail graduated, above 
olive, beneath yellow; abdomen, eyelids, maxillary patch, and line to the bill, 
white. 
ICTERIA VIRIDIS. — Bonaparte. 
The Yellow-breasted Chat. 
Muscicapa viridis, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 986. 
Icteria viridis, Bonaparte. Obs. Wilson (1826), No. 163. Nutt. Man., I. (1882) 
289. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1884) 228; V. 483. 
Pipra polyglotta, Wilson. Am. Orn., I. (1808) 90. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Third and fourth quills longest, second and fifth little shorter, first nearly equal 
to the sixth; tail graduated; upper parts uniform olive-green; under parts, including 
the inside of wing, gamboge-yellow as far as nearly half-way from the point of the 
bill to the tip of the tail; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on the sides; 
the outer side of the tibia plumbeous; a slight tinge of orange across the breast; 
forehead and sides of the head ash, the lores and region below the eye blackish; 
a white stripe from the nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid; a patch 
on the lower lid, and a short stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and running 
to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white; bill black; feet brown. 
Female like the male, but smaller; the markings indistinct; the lower mandible not 
pure-black. 
Length, seven and forty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and twenty-five 
one-hundredths; tail, three and thirty one-hundredths inches. 
Massachusetts seems to be the northern limit of this 
bird’s habitat in New England; and, even in this State, it is 
a very rare species. Every season, for the last three years, a 
pair has nested near Lynn, in this State; and Mr. Allen 
says, that they are sometimes seen, in the breeding season, 
near Springfield. I have seen great numbers of these birds 
in the Western States; their habits, song, &c., are well 
described by Nuttall in the following : 
“The males, as in many other migrating birds, who are not 
continually paired, arrive several days before the females. As 
soon as our bird has chosen his retreat, which is commonly in some 
thorny or viny thicket, where he can obtain concealment, he becomes 
jealous of his assumed rights, and resents the least intrusion, scold- 
ing all who approach in a variety of odd and uncouth tones, very 
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