12 



TYRANNID^E : FLYCATCHERS. 



SWALLOW-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 

 MILVULUS FORFICATUS (Gm.) Sw. 



Chars. Tail much longer than the body, deeply forficate. First 

 primary emarginate. Crown with a flame-colored patch. Gen- 

 eral color hoary-ash, paler or white below, with patches of 

 scarlet or bloody-red on the sides, and other parts of the body 

 tinged with the same or a paler shade of red. Tail black, several 

 of the feathers extensively white or rosy. Wing about 4.50 ; tail 

 nearly a foot long when fully developed. 



This very elegant and grace- 

 ful bird of the southwestern 

 United States, abundant and 

 conspicuous in Texas, is one of 

 the three Flycatchers which 

 have accidentally occurred in 

 New England, each in a single 

 instance. A specimen was 

 taken by Mr. Carpenter, at 

 Wauregan, Conn., about April 

 27, 1876 (Purdie, Bull. Nutt. 

 Club, ii, 1877, p. 21 ; Merriam, 

 B. Conn., 1877, p. 50). An- 

 other equally exceptional case 

 is that recorded by Dr. C. C. 

 Abbott (Am. Nat., vi, 1872, p. 

 367), a specimen having been 

 secured at Trenton, N. J., 

 April 15, 1872. Drs. Coues 

 and Prentiss include the spe- 

 cies in their list of the birds 



FIG. T.-Emargination of primaries in f the District of Columbia J 

 Tyrannida. *, Milvulus forficatus ; but that TCCOrd being 

 b, Tyrannus carolinensis ; c, T. , 

 verticalis ; d. T. -vociferous. City Open tO doubt, the 



