110 
NEW-YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 
early part of May. They do not appear to advance farther north than the 46th parallel. 
They extend over the western States. It is not a numerous species. It leaves this State 
towards the end of September. It lays 4-5 pure white eggs, with a few reddish dots at the 
larger end. I am not informed whether it breeds in this State, but presume this to be the 
case at least in the western counties. It is exceedingly active in its movements, and is 
perpetually on the wing in search of the smaller winged insects, and particularly of mosqui¬ 
toes. It chiefly affects humid places and the borders of small streams. 
[EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 
C. townsendi. [Philogonys id. Sw. Arm. B. of Am. Vol. 1, p. 243, pi. 69). Dtdl brownish grey. 
Basal part of primaries pale yellow: middle tail-feathers greyish; the others blackish; the outer 
white. Tail long, straight, emarginate and rounded. Length, 8-5. Columbia river. 
FAMILY MUSCICAPIDsE. 
Bill moderate, triangular, robust, with elongated bristles at the base. Upper mandible 
inflected at the tip, notched; lower with the tip somewhat ascending. Nostrils basal, 
rounded, patulous, partly covered by bristles. Feet generally short. Tarsus short, slen¬ 
der, with broad scutellce. Hind toe not proportionally large. Wings long: the first 
quill usually long; the outer three longest. Tail various. Tongue depressed, sagittate, 
bristly at the tip. Solitary, taciturn, untamable. 
GENUS MUSCICAPA. Linn^us. 
Bill broad at base, gradually compressed towards the end. Upper mandible with a very 
small notch near the tip. Tarsus with six scutellae, three of which almost meet behind. 
Toes free, all scutellate above. Second and third quills longest; outer quills sometimes 
attenuated. Tail long, even or emarginated. 
