SAYORNIS FUSCUS, PEWIT FLYCATCHER. 241 



ratio and Gila, and ia Southern California, it begins to move in Feb- 

 ruary, and by the following month has accomplished the first stages of 

 its journey. According to Dr. Richardson, it, reaches the Saskatchewan 

 early in May. It returns very leisurely, tarrying by the way, not fairlj- 

 resuming its winter station until November. 



In its habits it is nearest »S'. nigricans, but also in a noticeable degree 

 resembles the arboreal species of the East. It is a bird of open country, 

 the Flycatcher of the plains. As we ride through the rank herbage of 

 the innumerable ravines that trend toward the water-courses of the 

 west, among the sage-brush of the still more inhospitable regions, or in 

 less forbidding valleys, environed by forests, that lie among the moun- 

 tains. Say's Flycatcher may ofteu be seen, singly or in pairs, perched 

 on the stunted vegetation. We may approach quite near without 

 alarming it, hear its sharp note, observe its characteristic attitude as 

 it sits in wait for passing insects, ready for instant action, and then see 

 it sally into the air to capture its prey with a click of the bill. It has 

 the same vibrating motion of the tail so characteristic of H. ftiscus. The 

 nidiflcation is essentially similar to that of this species, in the construc- 

 tion of the nest, if not in its position. Sometimes mud is used in its 

 composition, sometimes not. The eggs, of the usual number for this 

 family, are pure white, unmarked, as in S.fusciis, and also 8. nigricans. 





SAYORNIS FUSCUS, (Gm.) Bd. 

 Pewit Flycatcher; Phaebe-bird. 



Museicapa fusca, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 9'i (M. carol inensis fiisca, Briss., iv, 367.) — 



ViEiLL., Ois. Am. Sept. i, W07, 68, pi. 40 ; Encv. Meth. 829.— Bp., Obs. Wils. 



1825, No. 11.5 ; Syn. 18-28, 68.— AUD., OrD. Biog. ii, 1834, 122 ; v, 1839, 424 ; pi. 



120 ; Syn. 1839, 43 ; B. Am. i, 1840, 223, pi. 63.— GiR., B. L. I. 1H44, 4-2. 

 Tyrannula fusca, Rich., List in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1837. — Bp., List, 1838, 24. 

 Tyrannus fitsciis, Nutt., Man. i, 1840, 31<2. 



Myiarchm fuscus, Cab., Wieg. Arch. 1847, 248.— SCL., P. Z. S. 1859, 366 ; Ibis, 1859, 440. 

 Aulanax fuscus, Cab., J. f. O. iv, 1856, 1. 

 Sayoniis fuscus, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 184. — Sumich., Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1869, ."i.")? (Vera 



Cruz).— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 158.— Dress., Ibis, 1865, 473 (Texas).— Snow, B. 



Kans. 1873, 3.— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii. 1872, 179.— Codes, Kev. 1872, 172, fig. 



US'".- Gentry, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1«73, 292 (nesting).— B. B. & R., N. A. B. it, 



1874, 343, pi. 45, fig. 2. 

 Empidias fuscus. Cab., Mus. Hein. ii, 1859, 69 (type).— ScL., Cat. 1862, 234 (Mexico).— 



Lawr., Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii, 1866, 290. 

 Pyrocephalus (Empidias) fuscus. Gray, Hand-list, i, 1869, 363, No. 5539. 

 Museicapa atra, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 946.— Nutt., Man. i, 1832, 278. 

 il/«scic«p«j)/ta;6e. Lath., Ind. Oru. ii, 1790, 489. , 



Mu-scicapa nuneiola, Wils., Am. Orn. ii, 1810, 78, pi. 13, f. 4. ..' ^ 



Myioiins nuneiola. Gray, Genera of Birds, i, 248. ■'. ' 



Tyrannula nuneiola, Bp., Consp. i, 1850, 189.— WooDH., Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 74. A . 



Hah. — Eastern United States and British Provinces. West to the Vermilion River, ' 

 or iurther. South into Mexico (Xalapa, De Oca, Mils. Lawr.). Winters abundantly in^') / _ , 

 all the Southern States. Breeds throughout its United States range. One of the very, 

 earliest migrants in the spring, reaching the C'anadas by the middle of April. -''--' 



Not noticed by the Expeditions. 



The following fresh observations on the nidiflcation of this species, ' , j. 

 by Mr. Gentry, in the paper above quoted, are reproduced entire, as ;\^^ 

 being of sufficient interest : ^ v, ;; 



"It is the commonly received opinion that birds of the same species' '^^ 

 uniformly build their nests of the same materials and in the same form 4 t» 

 and situation, though they inhabit different climates. This, however, oVf*'^ 

 is not iuvariably the case, as a few observations will show. On the 

 north branch of the Susquehanna, some months since, I procured several 

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