COUCH'S KINGBIRD. 245 



The average size of thirteen eggs in the United States National Mnseum 

 collection is 24.38 by 18.45 millimetres, or about 0.96 by 0.73 inch. The largest 

 egg measures 24.89 by 18.80 millimetres, or 0.98 by 0.74 inch; the smallest, 

 23.62 by 17.53 millimetres, or 0.93 by 0.69 inch. 



The type specimens, Nos. 24313 and 26345 (PI. 2, Figs. 5 and 6), both from 

 the Ralph collection, were obtained near Brownsville, Texas, the former on May 

 13, 1891, the latter on May 16, 1893, and show the different styles of markings. 



go. Tyrannus verticalis Say. 



ARKANSAS KINGBIRD. 



Tyrannus verticalis Sat, Long's Expedition, II, 1823, 60. 



(B 126, C 244, E 306, C 370, U 447.) 



Geographical range : Western North America; from the Pacific coast east to 

 ■western Texas, western Indian Territory, middle Kansas, Nebraska, and western Min- 

 nesota; north to North Dakota, southern Assiniboia, Alberta!, and southern British 

 Columbia; south to Lower California, and in the winter through Mexico to Guatemala. 

 Accidental in Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. 



The Arkansas Kingbird, for which the name of "Western Kingbird" seems 

 to be better suited, is pretty generally distributed as a summer resident tln-ough- 

 out the middle and western portions of the United States, and it breeds in 

 suitable localities throughout these regions. The northern limit of its breeding 

 range extends, as far as is at present known, into southern Assiniboia (the valley 

 of the Souris River), and probably westward through southern Alberta, as well 

 as along the southern borders of British Columbia, where it appears to be fairly 

 common, excepting in the immediate vicinity of the coast. In the United States 

 it reaches its northern limits in North Dakota and southern Minnesota, where it 

 is rare, and thence it is found south through Nebraska, middle and western 

 Kansas, western Indian Territory to northwestern Texas, and in all of the inter- 

 vening regions westward to the Pacific Ocean. 



In Lower California the Arkansas Kingbird appears to be rare, though a 

 few breed in the northern portions of this peninsula. Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, 

 United States Army, found a nest of this species at St. Ysidora ranch on July 2, 

 1894, containing three eggs, which are now in the collection here. This species 

 arrives from its winter home in Mexico and Guatemala, along the southern 

 border of its breeding range, about the latter part of March, and passes leisurely 

 northward, reaching our more northern States about the beginning of May, and 

 returning early in September. By the middle of October all, or nearly all, have 

 passed our borders, and I do not believe that any winter within the United States. 



The Arkansas Kingbird is pretty generally distributed tlu-oughout most of 

 our Western States, and is especially abundant in the Great Basin region. It is 

 essentially a bird of the more open country, especially of the river valleys, and 

 is not generally found in the higher mountain systems, where it rarely reaches 

 higher altitudes than 7,500 feet. I have observed this species as common in 



