380 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



slightly more chalky hue than those of the minimum, and more oblong. Those 

 l)i'ucuiL't.l hy Mr. lioanhnau were sprinkled with minute dots of reddish- 

 brown. Their measurement is .68 by .52 of au inch. 



Empidonax flaviventris, var. difficilis, Baiud. 



WESTEBK TELLOW-BEUIED FLTCATCHEB. 



Empidmiiuv difficilis, Baiiid, Birds N. Am. 1858, 198 (under E.flixrimilris), y\. Ixxvi, f. 2. 

 — 8(.'i.ATElt, (Jatal. 1862, 230. Empiilomix flavivaUris, Coiu'Eit, t-)rii. C'lil. I, 1870, 

 328. 



Sp. Char. Similar to flaviventris, but tail much longer, and colors lighter and duller. 

 Tlio olive above loss green, and the sulphur-yellow beneath less pure, having an ochra- 

 ceous cast, this especially marked on the edge of the wing; wing-bands grayish rather 

 tiian yellowish white. Measurements, $ (oSjOuO, Parley's Park, Wahsatch Mountains, 

 Utah, Augusts, 18G9; C. Kino, 11. Ridowav) : Wing, 2.90 ; tail, 2.80; wing-formula, 3, 

 4, 2, 5, fl, 1. Yuung. Wing-bands ochraceous, instead of grayish-white, with a sulphur- 

 yellow tinge. 



Had. Western Province of United States, and Western Mexico. (Mazatlan, Colima, 

 etc.) Fort Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 18G(j, 02). 



Habits. This Flycatcher is a western form, closely allied to our eastern 

 E. flaviventris. It was met with by Dr. Coues in Ari/(jna, where it was 

 rather rare, and appeared to be a sunnner resident. It arrives in that 

 Territory about the middle of April, and remains there until the latter part 

 of September. Dr. Coues found it difficult to distinguish this form from 

 our eastern flaviventris. 



])r. Cooper obtained at Monterey, Cal., specimens of the western types of 

 this bird, having darker markings on the M'ing, which, however, he regards 

 as only indicative of a young plumage, and not of specific distinctness. He 

 found these birds chiefly fre(^uenting woods of Coiiifcnc, and very silent, 

 which, so far as the observation has any value, indicates a marked dillereuce 

 between the eastern and the western birds. 



The eggs of this species are also different from any of the eastern E. 

 flarircntris that I liave ever seen, and are more like the eggs of E. trailli 

 than of the other species of Empidonax. They measure .73 of an inch in 

 length, by .58 in breadth, have a creamy-white ground, marked at the 

 larger end with reddish-brown and purplish markings. They are of an 

 oblong-oval shape. Mr. Eidgway met with tliis species only once in his 

 western ex])lorations, when he obtained a pair in a tliick pine woods on the 

 Wahsatch Mountains, in June. They were exceedingly retiring, and fre- 

 quented dark woods, whose solitudes were shared besides only by tlie 

 Tardus anduboni and MjiiadcMes toicnscndi. Their note was a pit, much 

 more like that of soiue "Warblers than like the notes of the other Empi- 

 donaces. 



This species, called by Mr. Grayson " The Lonely Flycatcher," was found 



