XANTUS'S BECARD. 231 



also as reo^iinls to the rosy spot on the throat, etc." Further on, in speaking- of 

 the habits of //. aulam, they say: "In all parts of our re;^-ion tlie range in alti- 

 tude of this species is very considerable, and extends from the sea level to an 

 altitude of at least 8,000 feet. In the Tres Marias Grayson found it only in 

 thick woods, where it was seen searching- for insects, sometimes, darting- after 

 them when on the wing, at other times looking- for them among- the leaves and 

 branches, not unlike the Warblers. Its notes are feeble and but seldom uttered, 

 and its habits are solitary. This island bird has been separated by "Slw Ridgway 

 as Flatypsaris insularis. 



"Mr. Robert Owen found a nest of this bird on IVIay 15, ISGO, atChuacusin, 

 Guatemala, and sent us the female, its nest, and two eggs. The nest was entirely 

 composed of tendrils, strips of bark, and g-rass, so as to form a hanging nest, 

 open at the top and about "2 inches deep. It was built between and hung from 

 the forked branch of a sapling at the foot of a mountain. The egg is white, 

 beautifully marked with pencilings of pinkish red and scattered spots of the 

 same color; tliese markings are much blended and concentrated at the larger 



end."i 



There is nothing recorded as yet regarding the nesting habits and eggs of 

 Xantus's Becard; but they are not likely to differ very nmcli from the nest and 

 e<»-o-s oi Hadrosfomns afflaio', to which it is closely allied. As far as I can learn 

 the eggs still remain unknown. 



Family TYRANNID^E. Tyrant Flycatchers. 

 85. Milvulus tyrannus (Linn.eus). 



FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 



Musciaqni ijiranmis LlNNyEUS, Systemsi NatiinB, ed. 12, I, 1700, 32."). 

 MiliniJHS ti/raititns Bonai'ARTE, (ieo^-raidiical and Comparative List, IS.SS, 2'). 



(B 122, C-24(l, II 302, G 30(i, IT [442].) 



Geographical ranoe: From nortlieru Patiigoiiia north tlinmph Soiitli and <'(>iitr;(l 

 America to southern Mexico and the Lesser Antilles. Witliin the United States accident- 

 ally in Mississippi, Kentucky, New Jersey, and southern California. 



The Fork-tailed Flycatcher can only l^e considered an accidental straggler 

 within our borders. It is a connnon bird throughout the more levid and iipcn 

 portions of Central America, and also throughout the greater ])ai-t of iSouth 

 America. 



The Scissor-tail Tyrant, or "Tijereta," as this species is called by Sclater and 

 Hudson, "is migratory, and arrives, already mated, at P)Uenos Ayres at the end 

 of September, and takes its departure at the end of February in families, old 

 and young birds together. In disposition and general habits it resembles the 



• r.iiilo'na ('(>iitr:ili Ainfii(^:iiia, Avos, \(il. IL DeoenilxT, 1S!)(), p\>. IL'l-lLU. 



