260 
In the fall of 1885 the last migrant left Elk River, Minn., September 
24. AtGrinnell, Iowa, the last was seen September 26, and at Mount 
Carmel, Mo., September 27. They were numerous at Saint Louis, Mo., 
September 16, but the bulk had departed before September 26. The 
last was noted September 29. <A very late migrant was seen at Lanes- 
boro, Minn., October 3. 
683. Icteria virens (Linn.). [123.] Yellow-breasted Chat. 
A summer resident in all but the northern part of the Mississippi 
Valley, east of the plains. 
Wintering beyond our southern border, it entered the district in the 
spring of 1884 about the Jst of March. March 15 it was reported from 
Gainesville, Tex., and April 25 from Manhattan, Kans. The next day 
found it at Saint Louis, Mo., but while the bulk was reported as arriv- 
ing at that place April 29, the bulk was not recorded from Manhat- 
tan, Kans., until May 10. This day, May 10, seems to have been the 
day of special movement for the Chat, as on that day it was noted from 
latitude 41° 40’ in Iowa; latitude 42° 18’ Iowa; and latitude 40° 08/ in 
Illinois. It has been reported in past years from southeastern Dakota 
aud southwestern Minnesota, but in 1884 the most northern notes were 
from central Nebraska and central Iowa. Thus, contrary to the usual 
rule, it reached Manhattan, Kans., before it did Saint Louis, Mo.; and, 
furthermore, the dates from Illinois were later than those from Missouri 
and Iowa. For example, for latitude 39° 19/ in Illinois, the date is May 
7; for latitude 40° 08 in Illinois, May 10; for latitude 42° 16 in Illinois, 
May 13. These observations, coupled with the fact that the species is 
not known to winter in the West Indies, though found in Central 
America and Mexico, would make it probable that most of the indi- 
viduals enter the United States through Mexico, and that the migration 
is in a northeasterly direction. 
In the spring of 1885 the earliest record of the Yellow-breasted Chat 
came from the extreme southwest, where it was seen at San Antonio, 
Tex., April 14. It reached Gainesville and Bonham, in northern Texas, 
April 17 and April 18. At Saint Louis, Mo., Chats were seen April 21; 
at Manhattan, Kans., April 22; at Mount Carmel, Mo., April 30; Cor- 
inth, Miss., April 30; Newton, Iowa, April 30; Fayette, Mo., May 1; 
Des Moines, Iowa, May 11; Huron, Dak., May 12; and Grinnell, Iowa, 
May 18. Thus the record in 1885 was not so regular as in the previous 
year. 
In the fall of 1885 the last Chats at Grinnell, Iowa, and Mount Car- 
mel, Mo., were seen July 20. At Saint Louis, Mo., they remained until 
August 18. But none were seen at Bonham, Tex., after August 6. 
Mr. Lloyd says it is a tolerably common spring migrant in Tom Green 
and Concho Counties, Tex. 
683 a. Icteria virens longicauda (Lawr.). [123 a.] Long-tailed Chat. 
The habitat of this Chat touches the western part of our district along 
the edge of the plains. Colonel Goss has found it breeding in western 
