ICTEEIA VIEENS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 77 



very retiring habits rendered it a ratlaer difficult species to secure. Oc- 

 casionally, however, a male would mount to the highest point of the 

 thicket to ponr forth his warbling melody, almost unrivalled in sweet- 

 ness by that of any other of the forest songsters." 



The nest is a rather slight but neat structure, placed on the ground, 

 composed of various soft fibrous materials and iine grasses, mostly cir- 

 cular arranged, lined with fine I'ootlets. The eggs, judging from several 

 sets before me, collected by Mr. Ridgway, lack the sharp speckling of 

 reddish-brown found mostly throughout this family, being variously 

 blotched, in an entirely irregular manner, with very dark brown, and 

 smirched with several shades of lighter dirty brown, together with some 

 obscure neutral shell-markings ; the ground is white, as usual. Extremes 

 of size and shape which have offered, are 0.70 by 0.50 and 0.C5 by 0.52. 



ICTBKIA VIEENS, (Linn.) Bd. 

 TellOTv-breastcd Cliat. 



a. virens. 



Tiirdns virens, Linn., Syat. Nat. i, IT.'iS, 171. 



Icteria virens, Bd., Eev. 1865, 228. — Sumich., Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1869, 54. — L.vwr., Ann. 

 Lye. is, 1868, 95 (Costa Rica) ; ix, 1869, 200 (Yucatan).— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. 

 iii, 1872, 175.— COUE.S, Key, 1872, 108, fig. 48. 



Muscicapa viridls, Gm., Svst. Nnt. i, 1788, 936. 



Icteria viridis, Bp., Oba. Wils. 1828 ; Syn. 1828, G9 ; List, 1838^ Consp. Av. i, 1850, 331.— 

 NUTT., Man. Orn. i, 1832, 299.— Aitd., Oru. Biog. ii, 1834, 223 ; v, 1839, 433, pi. 

 137; Syn. 1839, 163; B.' Am. ir, IGO, pi. 244.— Woodh., Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 73.— 

 JBd., B. N. a. 1858, 248 ; and of late local writers.— Hoy, Smiths. Rep. 1864, 437 

 (Missouri, breeding). — Coop., Am. Nat., Aug. 1869 (Fort Union, breeding). — SCL., 

 P. Z. S. 1870, 836 (Honduras).— Cai!., J. f. O. viii, 403 (Costa Eica). 



Icteria dumicola, Vieill., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1897, 85, pi. 55. 



Pipi-a pohjfjlotta, Wils., Am. Orn. i, 1808, 90, pi. 6, f. 2. 



(?) Icteria auricoUis, LiCHT. — Bp., Consp. Av. 1800, 331. 



(?) Icteria velasquezii, Bp., P. Z. S. 1837, 117 ; Consp. 1850, 331.— SCL. & Salv., 1859, 12. 



b. longicauda. 



Icteria longicauda, Lawe., Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. vl, 1863, 4. — Newb., P. R. E. Eep. 

 vi, 1857, 81.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 249, pi. 34, f. 2.— Heerm., P. E. R. Eep. x, 1859, 

 55.— Scl., Cat. 1861, 42.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 160.— CouES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 

 71.— Coop., Pr. Phila. Acad. 1)570, 75.— Coop., B. C:.1. 1870, 98.— Aike.v, Pr. 

 Bost. Soc. 1872, 197 (Colorado).— Merr., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1872, 674. 



Icteria virens var. longicauda, CoUES, Key, 1872, 108. 



Hah. — The typical form to the high central plains ; thence replaced by the other. 

 True virens north only to Connecticut Valley. 



Lieutenant Wan-en's Expedition. — 4725, •'Nebraska;" 4724, mouth of White River; 

 5304, 5308, 5307, 5310-11, Fort Lookout ; 5306, Little Cheyenne ; 4647-48, Fort Pierre. 



Lata- Expeditions. — 01655-59, Ogden, Utah; 61794, Devil's Creek, Idaho. "\'ar. 

 longicauda. 



Not obtained by Captain Eaynolds' Expedition. 



It has proven impossible to distinguish the several supposed species enumerated in 

 the above synonymy. Nevertheless, I am at present indisposed to folloTv Dr. Cabanis 

 to the length of uniting them all without varietal qu.alification. In the dryer portions 

 of the Western United States the species becomes, like other birds of that region,' less 

 highly colored, the olive taking a grayish cast noticeably dilTereut from the rich clear '^ 

 shade of Eastern specimens. This change is accompanied by an increase in ai-ernge 

 length of tail, although this feature does not always obtain. I predicate a var. longi- 

 caiula upon this basis. Dr.' Ilayden's specimens appear to belong here. There is some 

 uncertainty attaching the determiuatiou of the two described Mexican species ; but as 

 well as I can judge, they are referable to true virens rather than to var. longicauda. 



This is a southern species not exceeding the limits of the "Carolinian 

 Fauna," as defined by Mr. Allen (Bull. M. 0. Z. ii, 1871, 394). A form 

 extends through Mexico to Guatemala. I have seen no AVest Indian 

 references. The bird does not appear to winter anywhere in the United 



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