350 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Genus CONTOPUB, C'abanis. 

 Contopus, Cabaxis, Journ. fur Ornith. Ill, Nov. 1855, 479. (Type, Muscicapa virens, L.) 



Gen. Char. Taijsus vt-ry short, hut stout; less than the middle toe and scarcely longer 

 than the hinder; considerahly less than the culmen. Dill quite broad at the base; wider 



than half the culmen. Tail 

 moderately forked. Wings 

 very long and nnuh pointed, 

 reaching beyond the middle 

 of the tail ; the first prlmaiy 

 about equal to the fourth. All 

 the primaries slender and rath- 

 er acute, but not atteiuiated. 

 Head moderately creste<l. Col- 

 or olive above, pale yellowish 

 beneath, with a darker ])atch 

 on the sides of the breast. 

 Under tail-coverts streaked in 

 most speeies. A tuft of cottony- 

 white feathers on each side of 

 the rump (concealed in most 

 species). 



Contopus borealis. 



Tliis genus is i)re-eiiiiiiently characterized among North American Fly- 

 catchers hy the very short tarsi, and the long and much pointed wings. 



In most other genera, as Sayorin, Mt/iairhns, and Empldonaj-, a trace of a 

 cottony tuft may he discovered hy careful search on the Hanks ; hut in the 

 ])resent genus, there is, in addition, the tufts on the rump, not found in the 

 otliers. The species are as follows : — 



Species and Varieties. 



A* Cottony patch of white feathers on sides of the rump greatly developed, and 



conspicuous. Rirtal bristles very slioit (about one fourth the length of the bill). 



Lower parts distinctly and abruptly white medinll .' (somewhat interrupted on 



the breast). 



1. C. borealis. First quill h^iger t^ um *l;e fourth, generally exceed- 

 ing the third. Wing. 4.00 to 4.40; tail, 2.U0 to 3.00; culmen, .90; 

 tarsus. .GO. Above dark olive-plumbeous, the tertials edged with 

 wliiti.^h ; lower parts a lighter shade of the same, laterally and across 

 the breast (narrowly), the throat and middle line of the abdomen 

 being abruptly white. Young not difterent. Hah. Northern parts of 

 North America, to the north border of United States ; on the mountain- 

 ranges, farther south, on the interior ranges, penetrating through Mexico 

 to Costarica. 



B« Cottony ])atch on side of rump rudimentary and concealed. Rictal bristle.*? 



strong (ont» half, or more, the length of the bill). Lower parts not distinctly 



white medially. 



a*. First primary shorter than fifth, but exceeding the sixth. Tail shorter 

 ' than wings. 



