TYRANNIDiE - THE FLYCATCHERS. 369 



Empidonax pusillus, var. trailli, Baikd. 



TBAILL'S FLTCATCHEB. 



Muscicapa trailli, Aid. Orn. liu)};. 1, 1832, 236; V, 1839, 426, pi. xlv. — Ib. Syu. 1839, 

 43. — In. Hiiils Am. I, 1840, 234, pi. Ixv. Tumnnula trailli, Kicil. List, 1837.— 

 Bo\Ai'. List, 1838. TijraiiHus Irailli, Nuttali,, Man. 1, (2(1 ed.,) 1840, 323. Umpi- 

 tloniuc trailli, Baiiid, Birds N. Am. 1858, 193. — Sulateu, Cutal. 1862, 231.— 

 Samuels, 140. 



Sp. Ciiau. Tliird quill longest ; .second scarcely shorter than fourth ; first .shorter than 

 fil'tli, about .35 shorter than tiio longest. Primaries about .75 of an inch longer than 

 secondaries. Tail even. Up[)er parts dark olive-green ; lighter under the wings, and 

 duller and more tinged with ash on nape and sides of the neck. Centre of the crown- 

 feathers brown. A pale yellowish-white ring (in .some specimens .iltogether white) round 

 the eye. Loral feathers mixed witii white. Chin and thro.at white ; the breast and siiles 

 of throat light ash tinged with olive, its intensity varying in individuals, the Ibrmer 

 sometimes faintly tinged with olive. Siiles of the l)reast much like the back. Middle of 

 the belly nearly white; .sides of the belly, abdomen, and the lower tail-coverts, sulphur- 

 yellow. Tlie quills and tail-feathers dark brown, as dark (if not more so) as these parts 

 in C. virens. Two olivaceous yellow-white bands on the ving, formed by the tips of the 

 first and second coverts, succeeded by a brown one ; the edge of the first primary .and of 

 secondaries and tertials a little lighter .shade of the same. The outer edge of the tail- 

 feathers like the back ; that of the lateral one rather lighter. Bill above dark brown ; 

 dull brownish beneath. Length, nearly O.Ol) ; wing, 2.90 ; tail, 2.00. Young with the 

 wing-bands ochraceous instead of grayish-olive. 



Had. Eastern United States and south to Mexico. Localities; ? Isthmus of Panama 

 (Lawr. VIII, 63); ?San Antonio, Texas (Drkssku, Ibis, 1865, 474, breeds); ? Costa 

 Rica (Lawr. IX, 114) ; Yucatan (Lawr. IX, 201). All these localities, except perhaps 

 the la.st, are to be questioned, as being more properly in the habitat of var. pusillus, 



Tliis species is most closely related to E. minimus, but difiers in larger 

 size and tlie proportions of quills. The middle of the back is the same 

 color in both, but instead of becoming lighter and tinged with ash on the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts, these parts very rarely differ in color from the 

 back. The markings on the wings, instead of being dirty white, are 

 decidedly olivaceous-grayish. Tlie yellow of the lower parts is deeper. 

 The tail-feathers are rather broad, acuminate, and i)ointed ; in minimus they 

 are narrow and more rounded, while tlie tail itself is emarginated, instead 

 of square, as in the present bird. The bill is larger and fuller. The legs are 

 decidedly shorter in proportion. 



Habits. Traill's Flycatcher was first described by Mr. Audubon f s a west- 

 ern bird, procured from Arkansas. In his subsequent reference to this species 

 he also speaks of it as identical with severid birds obtained by Townsend near 

 the Cohimbia Itiver, but which our present knowledge as to the distribution 

 of this species compels us to presume to have been specimens of the Empi- 

 donax pusillus, a closely allied species or race. That Traill's Flycatcher does 

 occur in Arkansas, on the other hand, is rendered probable by its abundance 

 in other parts of the country, making this region directly within its range of 



VOL. II. 47 



