252 EMPIDONAX TRAILLII, TRAILL's FLYCATCHEE. 



near Indianapolis. It was fully identified and tlie parent shot. This 

 nest has a diameter of four inches and a height of Uro. Its base is 

 composed, to a large extent, of dry grasses, intermingled with masses 

 of withered blossoms of different herbaceous plants. Above this is 

 constructed a somewhat rudely-interwoven nest, composed of long, fine, 

 wiry stems of grasses. The cavity is two inches wide, and is less than 

 one in depth. The eggs, three in number, are exceedingly beautiful, 

 and differ from all tlie eggs of this genus, having more resemblance to 

 those of Contopi. They have an elongated oval shape, and are quite 

 pointed at one end. They measure 0.7S by 0.56 of an inch. Their 

 ground is a rich cream-color, tinged with a reddish-brown shading, and 

 at the larger end the eggs ;ire irregularly marked with scattered and 

 vivid blotches of red and reddish-brown." 



EMPIDONAX TEAILLII, (Aud.) Bd. 

 Traill's Flycatcher. 



a. traillii. 



Mtiscicapa u-aiUii, AUD., Orn. Biog. i, 1832, 236; v, 1839, 426; pi. 45; Syn. 1839, 43; B. 

 Am. i, 1840, 234, pi. 65. 



Tjp-annula traillii, Rich., Rep. Br. Assoc. 1837.— Bp., List, 1838, 24 ; Cousp. i, 18.^0, 189.— 

 WooDH., Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 74. 



Tyrannus traillii, Ndtt., Man. i, 1840, 323. 



Mijiobius traillii, Gray, Geuera of Birds, i, 249. 



Empidonax traillii, Bd., B. N. A. 1^58, 193. — Cab., Mus. Heiu. ii, 1859, 70 (reference to 

 Audubon is wrong). — ScL., Cat. 1862, 229.— Wheat., Ohio Agric. Rep. 1860, No. 

 50.— CouES <fc Prent., Smiths. Rep. 1861, 404.— Verr., Pr. Ess. Inst, iii, 14r> 

 (Norway, Me.). — Lawr., Ann. Lvc. N. Y. viii, May, 1863 (New Granada); viii, 

 1866, 290 (New York) ; ix, 1868,'ll4 CCosta Rica); ix, 1868, 202 (Yucatan).— 

 Allen, Pr. Ess. Inst, iv, 1864, 54. — McIlwr., ibid, v, 1866, 84.— CouES, ibid, v, 

 1868, 265.— TuRNB., B. E. Pa. 1869, 13.— Mayn., Guide, 1870, 125 ; Pr. Bost. Soc. 

 1871, p. —.—.Snow, B. Kaus. 1873, 3.— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1672, 179 

 (Kansas).- CouES, Key, 1872, 175. 



Empidonax pusillus var. traillii, B. B. & E., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 369, pi. 44, f. 8. 



b. pitsillus. 



('?) Platyrliynchns pusillus, Sw., Syn. Mex. B. in Phil. Mag. i, 1827, 366. 



(?) Tyrannula pusilla, Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 144, pi. 46, upper fig. (uncertain — 

 just as likely to have been minimus). — Game., Pr. Phila. Acad, iii, 1847, 156.— 

 Bp., Consp. i, 1850, 189. 



Muscieapa pusilla, Aud., Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 288, pi. 434; Syn. 1839, 44; B. Am. i, 1840, 

 236, pi. 66 (quotes " Labrador" and "Newfoundland"). 



Tiirannns pusillus, Ndtt., Man. i, 1840. 



Myiobiua pusillus, GRjiY, Genera of Birds, i, 249. 



Enqiidonax pusillus, (1)Cab., J. f. 0. 1835,480. — Cab.. Mus. Plein. ii, 1859, 70 (Mexico). — 

 Bd., B. X. A. 18.58, 194.-SCL., Ibis, 1859, 441; Cat. 1862, 229.— CoOP. & SuCK., 

 N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 170.— CouES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 61.— Sumich., 

 Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1869, 557 (Vera Cruz). — S.now, B. Kaus. 1873, 4. — AlKEN, 

 Pr. Bost. Soc. 1872, 206 (Wyoming).- Merr., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1872, 691.— 

 B. B. & R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 366, pi. 44, f. 9. 



Empidonax traillii, CoOP., B. Cal. i, 1870, 327. 



Empidonaj; traillii var, pusillus, CouES, Key, 1872, 175. 



Hab. — Eastern United States and British Provinces, west to the central plains, 

 whence to the Pacific replaced by var. pusillus. South to New Granada. The wesreru 

 form through Mexico. 



Late Expedtions. — 81741-6, Ogden, Utah ; 61773, Idaho. 



I have found it impracticable to distinguish the western bird as a 

 species, and in treating it varietally it proves difficult to assign any 

 very tangible characters. It may be noted, in this connection, that 

 Dr. Cooper has, on several occasions, insisted that the Californian 

 bird is indistinguishable from traillii. Audubon's type was taken in 

 Arkansas, and he accredits the snecies with a range thence to the 



