Vol. XII I Brewster, Notes on Certain Flycatchers. I C^O 



to this species. Wilson's name, Muscicapa qucnda (Am. Orn., 

 II, 1810, p. 77, pi. 13, f- 3), is, of course, still earlier, but it is 

 preoccupied by Muscicapa querula [= Contopus virens\ Vieillot 

 (Ois. Am. Sept., I, 1807, p. 68, pi. 39). Dr. Coues has said 

 (Birds N. W., 1874, p. 250) that "if acadica be set aside as 

 indefinite or inapplicable " it will be necessary to take, " if belong- 

 ing here," Muscicapa subviridis Bartram, but this is a mere " notnen 

 nudum.'' 



Should these conclusions be granted and Empidonax acadicus 

 of recent American writers become E??ipido?iax virescens (Vieill.), 

 it would also seem advisable to change the name Acadian Fly- 

 catcher to Green-crested Flycatcher, for the bird was generally 

 known to the earlier American ornithologists as the Small Green- 

 crested Flycatcher. 



Traill's Flycatcher. Empidonax traillii (Aud.). 



The breeding range attributed to this Flycatcher has puzzled 

 ornithologists not a little, — and with, good reason, for east of the 

 Alleghany Mountains the bird appears to be practically confined 

 to the Canadian fauna, whereas in the Mississippi Valley it 

 breeds at least as far south as southern Illinois ; in the one case 

 associating (in a faunal sense) with such northern birds as 

 Swainson's Thrushes, Winter Wrens, Canada Jays and Three-toed 

 Woodpeckers, in the other with such southern forms as Caro- 

 lina Wrens, Tufted and Carolina Titmice, Cardinal and Blue 

 Grosbeaks and Bachman's Sparrow. I have long suspected, 

 however, that the Traill's Flycatcher of Ohio, Indiana and 

 southern Illinois is not the same bird as that which breeds in 

 northern New England, and a recent examination of the material 

 in the collection of the United States National Museum and 

 Department of Agriculture has confirmed this impression which, 

 it may be added, is now shared by Mr. Ridgway, Dr. Merriam and 

 Capt. Bendire, who have also given the matter careful attention. 



I did not at first suppose that the question affected more than 

 the identification of certain of the Mississippi Valley specimens, 

 but it proves to have a broader significance, as will be presently 

 shown. The type locality of Muscicapa traillii Aud. was the 



