%.i 



V 



TYRANNIDjE, flycatchers. GEN. 108. 173 



5th quill ; 1st shorter than 6th ; 3cl and 4th generally rather the longest. 

 Eastern North America, verj^ abundant, in open places, fields, along streams, 

 etc. ; one of the very earliest arrivals in spring, a late loiterer in the fall ; 

 winters in the Southern States. Voice short, abrupt, unlike the drawling 

 note of the wood pewee. Wils., ii, 78, pi. 13; Nutt., i, 278; Aud., i, 

 223, pi. 63; Bd., 184 ruscus. 



108. Genus CONTOPUS Cabanis. 



*i,.* With the feet extremely small, the tarsus shorter than the middle toe and 

 claw ; the tarsus, middle toe aud claw together, barely or not one-third as long as 

 the wing ; the bill flattened, very broad at base ; the pointed wings nnich longer 

 than the emarginate tail. Medium sized and rather smaU species, brownish- 

 olivaceous, without any bright colors, ox \erj decided markings ; the coronal 

 feathers lengthened and erectile, but hardlj' forming a true crest. Fig. 113c. 



* Species 7-8 long, with a tuft of white fluffy feathers on the flank. 

 ;j Olive-sided Flijcatclier. Dusk^' olivaCeous-brown, usually darker on the 

 crown, where the feathers have blackish centres, and paler on the sides; 

 chin, throat, belly, crissum and middle line of breast, white, more or less 

 tinged with yellowish; wings and tail blackish, unmarked, excepting incon- 

 spicuous grayish-brown tips of the wing coverts, and some whitish edging 

 on the inner quills ; feet and upper mandible black, lower mandible mostly 

 yelloAvish. The olive-brown below has a peculiar strealiy appearance hardly 

 seen in other species, and extends almost entirely across the breast. Young 

 may have the feathers, especially of the wdngs aud tail, skirted with rufou*. 

 Wing 3-J-4^, remarkably pointed ; second quill longest, supported nearly to 

 the end by the first and third, the fourth abruptly shorter ; tail about 3 ; 

 tarsus, middle toe and claw together only about 1:} ; bill.§— J. North Amer- 

 ica, apparently nowhere very abundant. Nutt., i, 282 ; 2d ed. 298 ; Aud., 



1,212, pi. 58; Bd., 188; Coop., 323 bouealis. 



2_ '3 ''^^ Ooues' Flycatcher. Somewhat similar ; colors more uniform and more 

 clearly olive ; below, fading insensibly on the throat and belly into yellowish 

 wdiite, and lacking the peculiar streaky apj)earance ; cottony tufts on the 

 flanks less conspicuous; wing-formula entirely difiercnt ; second, third and 

 aud fourth quills nearly equal aud longest, first abruptl}' shorter ; tail longer, 

 about 3£-. Mexico; north to Arizona. Cab., Mus. Hein. ii, 72; Coues, 

 Proc. Phila. Acad. 1866, 60; Ell., pi. 18; Coop., 324. . . pertinax. 



** Species under 7 long, without an evident cottonjr white tuft on the flank. 



Wood Pewee. Olivaceous-brown, rather darker on the head, below with 

 the sides washed with a paler shade of the same reaching nearly or quite 

 across the breast; the throat and belly wdritish, more or less tinged wdth dull 

 yellowish ; under tail coverts the same, usually streaked with dusky ; tail 

 aud wings blackish, the former unmarked, the inner quills edged, and the 

 greater and middle coverts tipped, with whitish; feet and upper mandible 

 black, under mandible usually yellow, sometimes dusky. Spring specimens 

 are purer olivaceous; early fall birds are brighter yellow below; in 



