312 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



TyrannidoB in the structure of the bill, etc., and in the habit of capturing 

 insects more or less on the Min'% tliouij:h thev are more restless in their 

 movements, seeking their prey among trees or in bushes, rapidly changing 

 their place, instead of occui)ying a i)erch and returning to it after pursuing 

 an insect through the air. The yellow or orange crown found in many spe- 

 cies also carries out the analogy ; but the strictly Oscine diameters of the 

 tarsal scutelhe and the nine primaiies will serve to distinguish them. 



The Sduphagin(€ have their greatest develo])ment in Middle and South 

 America, no less than nine genem and subgenera being on record, of which 

 only two extend into the United States. Of one of these, Setoplmga, we 

 have only a single species of the many described ; the other, MyiodiodcSy 

 has no members other than those found in the United States. 



The following diagnosis is prepared to distinguish our genera from the 

 South American : — 



A. "NVinprs pointed , the first quill longer than the fifth ; the third as long as or 

 longer than the fourth. Tail nearly even, or slightl}'' rounded (the difterence of the 

 feathers less than .20) ; the feathers broad and firm ; the outer webs of exterior 

 ieathers narrow at base, but widening to nearly double the width near the end. 



1. Bill lioni gape nearly as long as skull, broad at base and much depressed; 

 rictal bristles reaching half-way from nostrils to tip. Culmen and commis- 

 sure nearly straight. Wings equal to the tail. Tarsi long; toes short ; mid- 

 dle toe without claw, about half the tarsus Setupharja. 



2. Bill from gape nearly as long as skull, broad at base, but deep and more 

 sylvicoliiie ; rictal bristles reaching but little beyond nostrils. Culmen and 

 conunissure straight to the tip, "Wings longer than the almost even tail. 

 Middle toe without daw. three fifths the tarsus .... Myiodioctea. 

 o. Bill from gape much shorter than head, wide at base, but compressed 



and high : the culmen and comuii^jsure much curved from base, scarcely 



notche*; at tip ; rictaj bristles r^nu'liing nearly UalP-way from no^rils tf3 tip. ♦ 



Wings about equal to the almost even tail. Middle toe without claw, about 



three fifths the rather short tarsus CardtlUna. 



D. Wings rounded ; the first quill shorter than in the preceding section ; always 



less than the fifth. South American jxenera.' 



c«^ 



Several species of Srfophar/ina' have, on not very well established grounds, 

 been assigned to the southern borders of the United States. They are as 

 iellows : — 



Cardellina rubra, BAiRn, Rev. Am. Birds. 1805. 204. (Sefophafjn ruhra, Swatnson.) 

 Parus hucofis. (iiRAin, Birds Texas, Jldh. Mexico. Rich carmine-red. Wing and 

 tail-feathers brown. Ear-coverts silvery white. Length, 4.70 ; wing, 2.40 ; tail, 2.55. 



Basileuterus culicivorus, IVvirh. Rev. Am, Birds, 1805, 240. (Sijlria cnlicivora, 

 LicHT.) M>iscir((jHf brdsieri, GiR.\vi).Tt'Xii^B'ird>^. ITab. Southern Mexico ; Guatemala 

 and Costa Rica. Top of head with two black stripes enclosing a median of yellow. 

 Back olivaceous- ash. Beneath entirely yellow. No rufous on side of head. Length, 

 4.90 ; wing, 2.40 ; tail, 2.25. 



1 Genera Mimh^rns, Ei>fhlifj/is, Mjiothbjpis, Basileuterus, Idiotes, and Ergaticus. All Middle 

 and South America. 



