306 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Empidonax pusillus, Cabanis. 



UTTLE FLYCATCHEB. 



t 



I Platijrhynchua pusillus, Swainsun, Phil. Mug. 1, May, 1»27, 366. Tyrannula pusilla, 

 Sw. V. 15. Am. II, 1831, 141, pi. — Uaii. App. Hack's Vuyiigo, 1834 36, 144.— 

 ti.v.Mliia, I'r. A. X. Sc. Ill, 1847, 156. Miisciania pusilla, Arii. Oni. Itiog. V, 1831), 

 •288 i pi. (;cco.\.\.\iv. — 111. Hiid.s Am. 1, 1S4(I, •230, pl. l.wi. TiiMnnas punillii, Ni:r- 

 lALL, Man. I, {'2.A ed.,) 1840. JCiiijH<loiin.i' pusillus, Haiuh, lliiils N. Am. 18r)8, l'J4. 

 Cool'Kii & SucKLEY, 176. — Sci.ATKli, Crttal. 186^2, 229. Empidomu Imilli, CoopEU, 

 Orn. t'al. I, 1870, 327 (Colorado lUvcr). 



Sp. Guar. Secoml, tliinl, aiul Iburlli (iiiili.>* lon^fo-it; first sliortiT than tlio sixth. ]5ill 



ralhiT liroad ; yellow liuiicath. Tail evon. Tarsi 

 rather long. Aliovo dirty olivc-hrown, palor and 

 nioro tiiigod with hrown towards the tail. Throat 

 mill lirea.st whito, tingud willi grayisli-(>livo on tho 

 sidi's, .'^hading across the lircast; bfUy and iiiidur 

 tail-(.'ovfrts very palo sulpluir-yellow. Wings with 

 two dirty narrow brownisli-whitu liaiids slightly 

 tingi'd with olive; the .sec^ondaries and tertials 

 narrowly and iiu'onspieuonsly margined with the 

 same. First priinary faintly edged with whitish ; 

 tho outer web of first tail-feather paler than the 

 inner, but not white. Under wing-coverts red- 

 di.sh oehraeeous-yellow. A whitish ring rniind 

 the eye. Length, 5..''j0; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.75. 

 „ ., .„ Younq. Wing-bands oehracc'ous instead of grayish. 



LtJijiulomuF pttsulus. JO 



IIah. High Central Plains to the Pacific. l<ur 



countries. Southward into Mexico. Fort Whipple, Arizona (CorKS, P. A. N. S. 18GC, 



Glj : Vera Cruz, teinp. reg. resideiii (Su.m. Mem. Jiost. .Soc. I, 557). 



Tlii.s race represcnt.s tlio var. irai/fi in the region west of the Rocky 

 Mountain.^. The present bird is paler colored than trail I i, the olivaceous ahove 

 nuicli more grayish anteriorly, and more brownish posteriorly, the olive 

 being tints less greenish and less unilbrm in tint ; the iirowni.sh .shade 

 across tlie breast is lighter and more ashy, and the yellow tinge posteriorly 

 beneath more I'aiiit ; the wing-bands lighter and more grayish. In color, 

 j)iisi//iin thus approximates srmiewhat to i,'. wm//K/M, which, however, is a 

 very distinct sjjecies, and more closely reltited to E.hammomU; mmuiius 

 may be distinguished by nuich smaller size (the bill especially), the wing- 

 bands grayish-wliite instead of olive-gray, and the tail emarginated instead 

 of aiipreciably rounded; minimus lays a white egg like Ji. ohKciirits, while 

 2)usillu!i and fnri//i lay distinctly spotted ones, and build a very diil'erent nest. 



Habit.s. I'rofessor Baird, in his Birds of North America., assigns to this 

 species an area of distribution extending from the Great I'lains to the 

 Pacific, southward into jMcxico, and north to the I'ur country. Dr. Hoy cites 

 it as of Wisconsin in his List of tlie Ijirds of that State, but witliout positive 

 data for this claim ; it has, however, since lieen actually taken, a summer 



