44 TYEANNID^. 



remigibus omnibus (praeter primum) usque ad rbachides rufis, pogoniis internis pro majorem partem rufis ; 

 Cauda fusca, extrorsum stricte rufo limbata, pogoaiis internis quoque plerumque rufis : rostro et pedibus 

 nigris. Long, tota 9-0, alae 4'9, caudse 3-6, tarsi 1-05, rostri a riotu 1-4. (Descr. exempl. ex Jalapa, 

 Mexico. Mus. Brit.) 

 2 mari similis. 



Hab. North Ameeica, Lower Eio Grande valley ^^ — Mexico, Rio Camacho in Nuevo 

 Leon (Armstrong), Aldama, Xicotencal, Altamira, Tampico, all in Tamaulipas 

 (Bichardson), Zacatecas (Wollweher^), Mazatlan {Grayson ^\ Bischoff^^ & Forrer), 

 Plains of Colima (Xantus i*), Acapulco (A. H. MarTcham i^, Mrs. H. H. Smith), 

 Chietla, Acatlan [Ferrari-Perez ^*), State of Vera Cruz (Sumichrast ^^). Colipa 

 (F. I). G.), Jalapa [de Oca^), Cordova {SalU^), Atoyac, Teapa (ilfrs. H. H. Smith), 

 Alvarado (Deppe), Chihuitan^^, Sta. Efigenia^^, Tapana^^, Tonola (Sumichrast), Tabi 

 in Yucatan (F. D. G.), Merida in Yucatan (Schott ^^j, Buctzotz in Yucatan (G. F. 

 Gaumer), Meco L, Mujeres L, Cozumel I. (G. F. Gaumer); British Honduras, 

 Orange Walk (G. F. Gaumer), Belize (Leyland '', 0. S.^, Blancaneaux) ; Guatemala, 

 San Geronimo ^^ Dueiias ^, Escuintla, Eetalhuleu (0. S. & F. B. G.) ; Honduras, 

 Omoa (Leyland''), San Pedro (G. M. Whitely^); Nicaragua, San Juan del Sur^i 

 and Sucuya ^^ (Nutting) ; Costa Eica, San Jose ^^ and La Palma ^^ (Nutting), Sta. 

 Anathole (v. Frantzius ^% Santa Ana (M. Lopez ^i). — South America, Colombia, 

 Venezuela, and Trinidad ^. 



Specimens of this species from all parts of our region are very uniform in their colora- 

 tion, but in the northern portion of South America the rufous colour of the outer surface 

 of the wings is more developed, and thus a species or race has been separated under the 

 name of P. rufipennis. It is somewhat remarkable that no specimens of this form have 

 yet been found in Panama, Costa Eica being the southern recorded limit of P. derbiantts. 

 From this it would appear that the ranges of the latter species and of P. rufipennis are 

 separated by a considerable interval. The northern limit of the range of this Tyrant 

 extends to the lower Eio Grande valley, and we have many specimens from the frontier 

 States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon ; thence it spreads all through the hot and 

 temperate regions on both sides of the Cordillera, its limit in altitude reaching about 

 5000 feet. Grayson says : — " This is a common and abundant species, inhabiting the 

 western and north-western parts of Mexico. I found it equally as common in Tehuan- 

 tepec as in the region of Mazatlan, where its loud shrill notes of hip-seedee hip-see-dee 

 may be heard at all seasons of the year, but more particularly during the breeding- 

 season, when it is excessively garrulous. It is more frequently met with in the neigh- 

 bourhood of freshwater streams and lagoons, and I have often seen them dart into the 

 water after water-insects and minnows that were swimming near the surface not unlike 

 a Kingfisher, but they usually pursue and capture on the wing the larger kinds of 

 Coleoptera and Neuroptera, swallowing their prey entire after first beating it against 

 a branch. They are usually in pairs, but I have also seen as many as twenty about a 

 stagnant pool watching its turbid water for insects and small fish, for which they seem 

 to have a great partiality." 



