344 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Satfornis nigricans. 



I, 248. Musckapa carolinetisis fusca, BuissON, Oiii. II, 17<iO, 3G7. Jilatk-headed 

 Fli/adclur, I'knxant, Aiv. Zoiil. II, 38ii, 209. llluch-ciijj F/i/mtcher, Latham, Sy- 

 nopsis, 1, 353. Kinpidiu.i fuscus, C'AUAS. il. II. II, Sept. 1859, 69 (type). — Sci.. 

 Catal. 1S(J2, 234. Sai/ornin/uscus, lUluu, liiiJs N. Am. 1858, 184. — SA.MUias, 133. 

 — Am.kn, li. Flu. 1871, 299. 



Sp. Cuau. 8idus ol' breast and upper parts dull olive-brown, fading sli{;htly towards 



the tail. Top and sides ol' head daik brown. 

 A few dull wliiti' feathers on the eyelids. 

 Lower parts dull yellowish-white, mixed 

 with brown on the cliiii, and in some indi- 

 viduals acrf)ss the breast. Quills brown, the 

 outer primary, secondaries, and tertials 

 edged with dull white. In some individuals 

 the greater coverts faintly edged with dull 

 white. Tail brown ; outer edge of lateral 

 feather dullwhiti',- outer edges of the rest 

 like the l)aek. Tiliiie brown. Hill and feet 

 black. Hill slender, edges nearly straight. 

 Tail rather broad and .><lightly forked. 

 Third quill longest ; soeond and fourth 



nearly equal ; the lirst shorter than si.xth. Length, 7 inches ; wing, 3.42 ; tail. .3. 30. 

 Hab. Eastern North America ; Eastern Mexico to Miiador and Orizaba. Cuba (Cabajj. 



J. IV, 1) ; Xalapa, (.^ci.. List, '2oi) : Vera Cruz, winter (.Simicukast, M. B. S. I, 557) ; 



San Antonio, Texas (Dressku, Ibis, LS05, 773, rare). 



Til aiituniii, and occasionally in early s])i'inff, the colors are nuicli clearer 

 and briffliter. AVliole lower parts soiuetinies lu'ii^'ht siil|iliin-yellow ; above, 

 greenish-olive; to]) and sides of the head tiiij^ed with sooty. In the young 

 of the year the colors are nmch duller ; all the wing-coverts broadly ti])iied 

 with light ferruginous, as id.so the extreme ends of the wings and tail- 

 feathers. Tlio brown is prevalent on the whole tlirotit and breast ; the hind 

 part of the back, ruiuji, and tail strongly ferruginous. 



H.viiiTs. The Pewee, or Pliu'be-Uird, a well-known harbinger of early 

 spring, is a conunon species throughout the whole of eastern North Amer- 

 ica, from tlie Kio (Irande, on the southwest, to the ])rovinces ol' Xova Scotia 

 and New Brunswick on the northetist, and as far west as the Mi.ssouri Kiver. 



Dr. Woodhouse found it ;M)minon lioth throughout Texas an<l in tiie In- 

 dian Territory. It '"a.s taken by Sumichrast in the Department of Vera 

 Cruz, but he was in doubt whether it occurs there as a resident or is only 

 migratory. Tt was observed at San Antonio, Tc^xas, but only tis a migrant, 

 by both Dresser and Heermann ; but at Ht)uston, in that State, it evidently 

 remains and breeds, as indivithials were seen there in June by Dresser. 

 Specimens were taken in February at IJrownsville, Texas, l)y Lieutenant 

 Couch, and afterwards in March on the opposite side of the river, — in 

 Tiimaulipas, ^lexico. 



In South Carolina, Dr. Cones found tliese birds most common in the 

 months of February and Marcli, and again in October and November. He 

 had no doubt tiiat some remain ami ])ass the winter, and tluit others are 



