30G NOllTll AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Family TYRANNIDiE. — Tyrant Flycatciif.rs. 



PinMAiiY ('ii.\i;a«tkks. rriiuiirics ten. JJill in tyjtical Ibrnis hroatl, trian?ular. niutli 

 dcincsxMl. al»nijitly decarved and notched at tij». witli long bristK-s alonj; gape. Tarsi with 

 scntelhe I'Xtcnihng roiuul the outer face of tarsus from the front to hack ; sometimes 

 dividctl on the outer si<h'. Bill with cuhnen nearly as long as the head, or shorter; 

 straight to near the tip. then suddenly bent down into a conspicuous hook, with a notch 

 behind it ; tip of lower jaw also notched. Commissure straight to near the notch ; gonyi; 

 sliLTJitlv convex. Nostrils oval or rounded, in the anterior extremitv of the niisal <jroove. 

 and more or less concealed by long bristles which extend trom the posterior angle of the 

 jaws along the base of the bill, Itecominv' smaller, but rcachinii" nearlv to the median line 

 of the forehead. These bristles with lateral bran<-hcs at the base. Similar bristles are 

 mixed in the loral feathers and margin the chin. Tarsi short, generally less than middle 

 toe, completely enveloped by a series of large scales, which me»'t near tln^ posterior edge 

 of the inner side, and are separated either by naked skin or by a row of small scales. 

 Sometimes a second series of rather large ])1atcs is seen on the |.oslerior face of the tarsus, 

 these, however, usually on ilie upper »'Xtremity only. Basal joint of middle toe united 

 almost throughout to that of the outer toe, but more than half free on the imier side; 

 outer lateral toe rather the l(»ngcr. ^Vings and tail variable; first quill always more than 

 three fourths the second. The outer primaries sometimes attenuated near the tip. 



Tlie primary characters j?iveii above will serve to distinguish the X(irth 

 American Tyrannidcc from tlieir allies; the essential features consisting in 

 the peculiarity of the scales of the tarsus and the ten i)rimaries. In tlie 

 ^iflvU'olid(v there are species as truly " Hycatching," and with a depressed 

 bristly bill, but the nine (not ten) primaries, and the restriction of the scales 

 to the anterior face of the tarsus, instead of extending entirely round the 

 outer side, will readily se])ai'ate them. 



The relationsliips of the TifrnnnnJo' are closest to the Cotuifjidcf. These 

 last differ mainlv in liavini' tlie tarsus more or less reticulated, or covered in 

 part at least witli small angular scales, instead of continuous broad ones ; 

 and in the greater adhesion of the toes. The legs are shorter, and the body 

 broader and more de}>ressed. The bill is less abundantly provided witli 

 bristles, and the species do not ap]>ear to be strictly Hycatcliers, feeding 

 more on berries and on stationary insects and larvae, rather than cai)turing 

 them on the wing. Two species of this family, Hadrostomus ajfinia^ and 

 Pachf/niiiiphus wajin-^ were introduced into the Birds of Xortli America, 

 from specimens collected by Lieutenant Couch in the valley of the liio 



1 ITadrostomust ajfinis. FlatijpfiarU affiniSy Eli.TOT, Ibis, 1859, 394, pi. xiii. Poc/iifrainphus 

 otflaice, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 164, pi. xlvii, f. 1. — Ib. Kep. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 7, 

 pi. xix, f. 1. Hndrostomus a{flui(c, C.vbaxis, Mus. Iloin, II, 85 (Xalapa). — Ib. Joum. 1861, 

 2.">2. — ScLATER, P. Z. S. 1864, 176 (City Mox.). Hub. Northern Mexico, Julapa, Nicaragua 

 (ScL. Cataloguo, p. 240) ; Yucatan (Lawrence). 



2 Pachiiramphus major. liathmiduriis mnjor, Car. Orn. Nat. 1847, I, 246. — Cab. et Hein. 

 Mus. Hein. II, 89. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 165, pi. xlvii, f. 2 9- — IR- K^'P- ^^'^'^- Bound. 

 II, Birds, 7, i»l. xix, f. 2. Pach/rawphu.s imjor^ Sci^vrEU, P. Z. S. 1857, 78 ; 1864, 176 (City 

 of Mex.). Ilab. Mexico and Guatemala. 



