254 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERIOAISr BIRDS. 



materials of the same kinds. It measures 11 inches in outer diameter by 5 inches 

 in height. The inner cup measures 5 inches in diameter by 2 inches in depth. 

 The various materials are well interwoven and make a compact mass. The walls 

 of the nest are unusually thick. The other nests were lined with wool, feathers, 

 plant down, and Spanish moss. 



The number of eggs to a set is four or five, and probably only one brood 

 is raised in a season. They vary considerably in shape; the majority may be 

 called short ovate, others are ovate and elongate ovate; the shell is close grained 

 and but slightly glossy. The ground color is pale creamy white, and is spar- 

 ingly spotted, principally about the larger end, with irregularly shaped splashes 

 and minute specks of seal or liver-brown and different shades of lavender. 



The average measurement of eighteen eggs in the United States National 

 Museum collection is 29.46 by 21.34 millimetres, or 1.16 by 0.84 inches. The 

 largest egg measures 30.48 by 22.10 millimetres, or 1.20 by 0.87 inches; the 

 smallest, 26.16 by 21.34 millimetres, or 1.03 by 0.84 inches. 



The t5rpe specimens, Nos. 26342 and 26343 (PI. 1, Figs. 20 and 21), both 

 from sets of four eggs, Ralph collection, were taken in Cameron County, Texas, 

 on May 27 and June 23, 1893, respectively, and represent the heavier and finer 

 marked types of these eggs. 



93. Myiozetetes texensis (Giraud). 



GIEAUD'S FLYCATCHER. 



Muscieapa texensis Gieaud, Sixteen Texas Birds, 1841, PL I. 

 Myiozetetes texensis Sclatee, Proceedings Zoological Society, 1859, 5P 

 (B _, C — , R 309, — , U [450].) 



G-EOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Central America; south to Colombia, South America, north 

 to northern Mexico (and southern Texas'?). 



Griraud's Flycatcher is included in our fauna on Giraud's Texas record, but 

 no other specimens have since been secured, and if it occurs at all in the lower 

 Rio Grande Valley, in Texas, it can only be considered as an accidental strag- 

 ler, and it is not probable that it breeds within our borders. 



Mr. Charles W. Richmond has kindly furnished me the following notes on 

 this bird: "It is very abundant in Nicaragua. It is confined to the vicinity of 

 water courses, and is evenly distributed in such localities. It is quite a stationary 

 bird; pairs occupying a certain precinct may be found in the same place week 

 after week, seldom wandering far away, according to my observations. The 

 bird usually selects a tree overhanging the water for its perch, where it often 

 sits for a considerable length of time, uttering its peculiar cry, which resembles 

 that of a young chicken, only louder. The bird has other notes which it makes 

 use of at different times. Occasionally it prospects around the outer branches 

 of the tree for insects, making short flights from branch to branch in a leisurely 

 manner, looking carefully about before proceeding to the next branch, and 



