404 



BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 



[Voir, 



Averages: wing, 3.96; tail, 3.78; bill from nostril, .63; tarsns, .83. 



It certainly will be seen from tlie sizes above that they come mucli nearer 

 to those of var. erythrocercus than to those of var. cooperi. It will be 

 noticed that the lengths I give of tail and tarsus are less than those of 

 Mr. Eidgway's erythrocercus^ and that the lengths of bill and wing are 

 but a very little more. In the bill alone my series average only .02 

 above his erythrocercus^ but .06 under his cooperi. I can see no reason 

 for changing the opinion formed last year. 



The colors of my specimens are very regular, the upper parts being a 

 dark ashy brown, so slightly tinged with olive that it reqnires a certain 

 light to distinguish it at all. Instead of its being like the ash of the 

 mixed olive and ash of Tyrannns melanclioUcus (var. coucM Bd.), it should 

 rather be called brown, so slight is the ashy shade; nor is it even so 

 light as M. cinerascens. 



The breeding habits of this bird were, during my second season in 

 Texas, well observed and noted. It is the common and only form of the 

 genus breeding on the Lower Eio Grande, entirely replacing the Great- 

 crested Flycatcher, M. crinittis, which leaves for the North in April. 

 From the numbers there found I expect to hear of their reaching into 

 Texas, at least as far as San Antonio and Corpus Christi, and farther 

 even into the State. They nest in hollow stubs or abandoned wood- 

 peckers' holes, at a height varying from five to twenty feet. The nests 

 are lined with a matted felt consisting of soft strips of bark, feathers, 

 hair, and wool, with sometimes bits of snake-skins intermingled. They 

 begin to lay early in May, the number of eggs in a clutch being five or 

 six. When sitting, the birds are not very timid, and, upon being 

 flushed from their eggs, do not fly to a great distance, and soon return 

 to the nest upon the intruder's retreat. On May 16 I flushed a male 

 fron\ a nest and six eggs, a circumstance making it probable that the male 

 assists in the duties of incubation. This single instance of finding a male 

 on the nest was overlooked when I sent the notes Which appeared in 

 '' Science News" of February 15, where I expressed my belief that the 

 female alone attended to the duties of incubation. 



The eggs are marked similarly to those of the Northern form, 71/. crimtus. 

 Sometimes the lines running from pole to pole are fine, nearly concealing 

 the creamy-buff ground-color ; in other cases the coloring is massed in 

 long splashes at intervals. In size they are less than those of the Great- 

 crested Flycatcher. 



Eighteen eggs before me average .86 by .69; the length varying from 

 .93 to .80, and the breadth from .72 to .67 of an inch. 



73. Sayornis sayus (Bp.) Bd. — 8ay''s Flycatcher. 

 Seen about low bushes in open places in April. 



I 



(j7 

 117 



$ Loinita April 10 



$ do April 15 



7.62 

 7.50 



12.90 

 12. 25 



4.12 

 4 00 



?,. 25 

 3.25 



