oGO 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Contopus virens, var. richardsoni, Baird. 



SH0BT-LE06ED PEWEE ; WESTERN WOOD FEWEE. 



Tijrannuitt richitnhoni, SwAiNsns, F. Bor,-Ain. II, 1831, 146, plate. MiiyJcapa richard- 

 soiti. All). Oru. Hiog. V, 1839, 2i»9, pi. ccccxxxiv. Tijrunnula pJuihc, Hon. List, 

 1838, 24. Miiscicaj)!' pJntbe, AriUBuN, SynojiMs, 1839, 42. — Ib. Birds Am. I, 1840, 

 219, pi. Ixi (not of L.\riiAM). Tijmnuns j>h<ibr, XuTT.vi.L, Man. I, (2*1 ed.,) 1840, 

 319. 7'i/ni)iHUS afrinps, D'OiinicNY (lidc (I. H. (Ihay). Contopus ru-Jutrdsonl, Baii:1), 

 Birds X. Am. 1858, 189. — Sclatki:, Catal. 18t)2, 231. — Coopkk, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 

 325. Contopus sordiilulus, Sclatku, ('atal. I>»i2, 231. Contopus phlKias, (Caban.) 

 ScLATEli, Cat. lS<i2, 231. Contopus bofjotcnsis, (BuNAl*.) ScLATEii, P. Z. S. 1858, 459. 

 (Tijrannulah. BuXAr. Comp. Rt'nd. p. 19(5.) 



Sp. Char. General appearance of C. I'ireus. Bill broad. "\Vin<rs very long and much 

 pointed, consideraMy exceeding the tail ; second quill longest; third a little .>;lK)rter ; tirst 

 shorter than fourth, and ahout niidway between distance from second to fifth ( GO of 

 an inch). I'rimaries 1.2(^ inches longer than secondaries. Tail moderately forked. 

 Above dark olive-brown (the head darker) ; the entire breast and sides of head, neck, 

 and Itody of a paler shade of the same, tingeing strongly also the dull whitish throat and 

 chin. Abdomen and under tail-coverts dirty pale-yellowish. Quills and tail dark 

 blackish-brown : the secondaries narrowly, the tertials more broadly edged with whitish. 

 Two quite indistinct bands of brownish-white .icross the wings. Lower mandible yellow ; 

 the tip brown. Length, n.20 ; wing, 3. Go; tail, 3.10. 



Had. High central dry j)lains to the Pacific: Rio Grande Valley, southward to Mexico; 

 Labrador (ArnfBON). Localiti«'s: Orizaba, Guatemala, Coban (Scl. Catal. 18G2, 231); 

 Costa Rica (Lawr. IX. llo) : Matamoras, Texas (Drksser, Ibis, ISG'). 474, breeds); San 

 Antonio, Texa<; (Dresser, one spec); W. Arizona (Coles, P. A. N. S. 18G(5, Gl). 



Thi>^ species lias a very close relationship t(j C. virens, aureeiiig with it in 

 gen.n-al shape of win[;s and in color. The wings are, however, still longer 

 and more ])ointe(l : the primaries exceeding the secondaries hy nearly 1.25 

 inches. The pro]H)rtions of the qnills are nearly tlie same in both ; the 

 primaries, too, are similarly a little emarginated or attenuated towards the 

 end. The tail is rather more deei)ly forked, the feathers broader. The 

 bills are similar: the feet are larger and stouter. 



The geneml colors are almost precisely the same. The outer i)rimary, 

 however, lacks the decidedly white margin. Tlie under ])arts are mucli 

 darker anteriorly, the entire breast being nearly a uniform olive-brown, Imt 

 little paler than the back ; the throat, too, in some specimens, being scarcely 

 paler. There is little or none of the pale sul])hur-vellow of C. virens on the 

 abdomen, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries are nuich darker oliva- 

 ceous. In C. virens the middle line of the breast is always paler than the 

 sides, or at least the connecting s])ace is short. 



The lower mandilile is generally yellow ; in a few specimens, however, it 

 is (piite dusky, especially on its tenninal half 



The young bird has tlie darker head and bronder light edgini:% with the 

 ferruginous tinge on the wing-markings, usually seen iu young of the 

 Tifrannulas. 



