178 CONTOPUS V1RENS. 



In Massachusetts, these. Flycatchers appear to prefer old fields grown up to cedars, 

 but place the nest on the outermost limb of some deciduous tree, either an apple or an oak. 

 They become attached to certain localities and will return year after year to breed in the 

 same place, for Mr. II. A. Purdie has found the nest several successive seasons in one field. 

 They are extremely solicitous for the safety of their eggs and sound their loud alarm notes 

 so frequently that, as Mr. Purdie remarks, they always betray their nesting place. 



They arrive in New England about the middle of May, nest the first week in June, 

 the young leave their homes by the middle of July, and all migrate by the last of August. 

 I saw a single specimen on a slope of the Alleghany Mountains near Williamsport, Penn- 

 sylvania, as late as the first week of June, thus it is possible that they breed in the more 

 elevated portions of that section, more especially as the growth of timber- there corresponds 

 quite nearly to that of Northern New Hampshire. 



CONTOPUS VIRENS. 



Wood Pewee. 

 Contopux virens CABAXIS, Jour, fur Ornith., Ill; 1855, 479. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, slender. Size, small. Sternum, not stout. Tongue, rather long, tliin and horny, bifid, but without 

 the terminal cilia. Stomach, not very muscular. 



COLOR. Adult. Above, including upper tail coverts, olivaceous-brown, darkest on the head. Wings and tail, brown 

 with the secondaries and tertiaries edged with yellowish-white. Tips of two rows of wing coverts, forming bars, also white. 

 Beneath, yellowish-white, with the sides, flanks, tibea, and indistinct band across breast, olivaceous-brown. Under tail 

 coverts, yellowish-white, streaked with olivaceous. Upper mandible, dark-brown, lower, yellow. Feet, black. 



Adult iy. autumn. Darker above and much yellower below than in spring. The under mandible is also dark-brown, 

 but pale-yellow at the base. The wing markings show a strong tinging of yellow. 



Youny of the year. Quite brown above with an overwashing of yellowish-rufous on the nape, rump, and upper tail 

 coverts. The wing bars are broader, but the white is replaced by yellowish-rufous. Under portions, similar to the adult, 

 but the dark markings are greener. Bill, very dark-brown, yellow at bass of Ijwer mandible. 



Nnsllinys. Similar above to the plumage last described, but browner and showing more yellowish-rufous. Beneath, 

 olivaceous-brown, with the abdomen and under tail coverts, yellowish-white. Bill, usually black, with dull-orange at the 

 base of the upper mandible, but a specimen not quite fully grown, kindly procured for me by the Bangs Brothers, has the 

 under mandible entirely yellow as in the adult. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens of the same age vary but little, excepting inform of bill. In the younger stages this member is broader and 

 has a shorter curved tip, especially in nestlings. It is somewhat difficult to obtain a specimen which is entirely in the first 

 plumage as they acquire the second dress before they are fully grown and, on the other hand, the adults delay so long in 

 assuming the antumnal dress that it is rare to take one in this stage in New England; the one which I have described being 

 taken on the autumnal migration in Pennsylvania. Known from borcalis by the smaller size, more slender form, and the 

 uniformity of the darker markings, they being in streaks in the larger species. Distributed in summer throughout Eastern 

 North America from Canada south, at least, to Georgia. Winters in Mexico and Central America. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of fourteen specimens. Length, 6'45; stretch, 10'sJO; wing, 3-37; tail, 2'44; bill, -57; tarsus, -50. 

 Longest specimen, (i'80; greatest extent of wing, 10'85; longest wing, 3'GO; tail, 2'75; bill, '65; tarsus, -55. Shortest speci- 

 men, 6-10; smallest extent of wing, 9-65; shortest wing, 3' 15; tail, 2-24; bill, '50; tarsus, '45. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in trees, composed, inwardly, of grass and pine leaves. The outside is smoothly covered with lichens se- 

 cured by cobwebs. Lined with fine grass. The whole structure somewhat resembles that ol the Humming Bird. Dimen- 

 sions, external diameter, 2'50, internal , 2 -00. External depth, 1-50, internal, TOO. 



Eygs, three in number, oval in form, creamy-buff in color, spotted and blotched around the larger end with brown, 

 unibsr, and lilac, there being few or no markings on the smaller end. Dimensions from '71 x'50 to '75 x '55. 



