270 LIFE HISTOKIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



100. Myiarchus lawrenceii (Giraud). 



LAWRENCE'S FLYCATCHER. 



Muscicapa lawrenceii Giraud, Sixteen Species of Texas Birds, 1841,9 (by actual counting, 



the text not being paged). 

 Myiarchus lawrenceii Baird, Birds of North America, 1858, 181. 



(B 133, 248, R 314, C 376, U [455].) 



Geographical range: Eastern Mexico; north to tlie lower Rio Grande Valley, in 

 Texas; south to Guatemala, Central America. 



Lawi'ence's Flycatcher holds a place in our avifauna on Giraud's record 

 from the lower Rio Grande, in Texas, but it has not since been obtained there 

 by any of the numerous collectors who have visited this region. At best it can 

 only be regarded as a rare straggler within our borders. Although a connnon 

 species in many parts of eastern Mexico, very little has been written about its 

 general habits, which probably differ but .slightly from those of its somewhat 

 better-known western representative, Myiarchus .lawrencei olivascens. 



There is a short reference to the eggs of this species, in the " Proceedings 

 of the Zoological Society of London, 1859" (p. 384), based on specimens taken 

 by M. A. Boucard, at Talca, Oaxaca, Mexico. They are described as. pure white, 

 with spots of two shades of brown, principally toward the larger end, where they 

 form a ring, and measure 0.70 by 0.525 inch. 



I doubt this identification, for so far as known none of the genus Myiarchus 

 lay eggs in which the ground color can be called pure white, and their small 

 size also renders it probable that they are not of this species. 



loi. Myiarchus lawrencei olivascens Ridgway. 



OLIVACEOUS FLYCATCHER. 



Myiarchus lawrencei olivascens Ridgway, Proceedings Biological Society, Washington, II, 

 April 10, 1884, 91. 



(B _, C — , R — , C — , U 455a.) 



Geographical range: Western Mexico; north to southern Arizona; south in 

 winter to southern Mexico, including Yucatan. Accidental in Colorado. 



Tliis interesting subspecies, which is the smallest of the Myiarchi found 

 within our borders, was iirst discovered as a summer resident in the Santa Rita 

 Mountains, Arizona, close to the Mexican boundary line, by Mr. F. Stephens, in 

 the spring of 1881, and added to our fauna by Mr. William Brewster shortly 

 afterwards.^ 



Mr. Stephens sent me the following notes on the Olivaceous Flycatcher: 

 " I have seen this bird only in the Santa Rita Mountains, where it is common. I 

 have taken incubating females in May and June, but never saw their eggs. 



' Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Vol. VI, 1881, p. 252. 



