72 TYEANNID^. 



the bird described and figured in the ' Fauna Boreali- Americana ' with its emarginate tail 

 was E. minimus ! Under this uncertainty we think it much better to use Audubon's 

 later name K trailli for this species ; and as we wholly fail to distinguish between the 

 eastern and western races called E. trailli and E. trailli pusillus by recent American 

 writers, we use the term E. trailli to include the whole series. As a rule it is a larger 

 bird than E. minimus, and has the wing-bands of a brownish grey, the tail is even or 

 slightly rounded, not emarginate as in E. minimus. E. trailli appears to be a very 

 common bu'd during the summer months in North America ; but we have not hitherto 

 observed it in any numbers in Mexico or Central America, though specimens obtained 

 as far south as Panama and even Ecuador seem referable to it. 



Our Mexican localities for this species include places near the sea-level and up to 

 an elevation of 4000 or 5000 feet above the sea ; but Sumichrast says it is a bird of the 

 temperate region, where it is resident, being common around Orizaba in June and 

 July ^''. The eggs of E. trailli are creamy white spotted with deep rusty brown. 



5. Empidouax minimus. 



Tyrannula minima, W. M. & S. F. Baird, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1843, p. 284'. 



Empidonax minimus, Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv., Zool., Birds, p. 9^; B. N. Am. p. 193'; Sol. 



P. Z. S. 1859, p. 384* ; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 227 ' ; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 122 '; 



P. Z. S. 1870, p. 837'; Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 474'; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. ii. 



p. 372'; Lawr. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 27"; Sennett, BuU. U. S. Geol. Surv. v. 



p. 405"; Coues, Birds N. W. p. 254''; Key N. Am. B. ed. 2, p. 442"; Ridgw. Ibis, 1886, 



p. 465 "; Man. N. Am. B. p. 343 ". 

 Tyrannula pusilla, Sw. Faun. Bor.-Am. ii. p. 144, t. 46 " ? 

 Empidonax pectoralis, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 402 ''. 

 Empidonax gracilis, Ridgw. Pr. Biol. Soc. Wash. iii. p. 23'*; Pf. U. S. Nat. Mus. viii. p. 571 '^ 



PrsBcedenti similis et vix diversus, sed paulo minor, faseiis alarum albicantioribus et cauda sensim fureata 

 distingaenduB. 



Hob. Easteen North America. — Mexico {Boucard), Sierra Madre above Ciudad 

 Victoria, Xicotencal and Tampico in Tamaulipas, Aguas Calientes and Plains of 

 San Luis Potosi {W. B. Bichardson), Venta de Zopilote, Acaguasotla, Tepetlapa, 

 Rincon and Tierra Colorada in Guerrero {Mrs. H. H. Smith), Orizaba {Botteriy 

 F. I). G.), Atoyac {Mrs. H. H. Smith), Vera Cruz {F. D. G., Bichardson), Playa 

 Vicente {Boucard^), Chihuitan, Sta. Efigenia, Tapana, Guichicovi, Gineta Mts. 

 {Sumichrast ^% Peto in Yucatan {G. F. Gaumer), Merida, Tabi {F. B. G.), Holbox 

 Mujeres and Cozumel Is. {G. F. Gaumer); British Honduras, Orange Walk {G. F. 

 Gaumer), Belize {0. S.^) ; Guatemala, Coban, Duenas^, Escuintla, Retalhuleu (0. S. 

 & F. B. G.) ; Honduras, San Pedro {G. M. Whitely 7) ; Panama {M'Leannan i^). 



It is exceedmgly difficult from skins always to distinguish this species from E. trailli. 

 Though the characters are laid down with considerable precision by the most recent 

 writers on the subject, experience shows that they cannot always be depended upon ta 



