Long-tailed Chat 467 
Long-tailed Chat. Icteria virens longicauda. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 683a—Colorado Records—Allen 72, p. 148; 
Aiken 72, p. 197; Henshaw 75, p. 207; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 159 ; 
Drew 85, p. 15 ; Beckham 85, p. 141 ; Miller 94, p. 42 ; Cooke 97, p. 117; 
04, p. 122 ; Dille 03, p. 74 ; Henderson 03, p. 237 ; 09, p. 240 ; Chapman 
07, p. 268 ; Markman 07, p. 158 ; Gilman 07, p. 194 ; Warren 08, p. 24; 
Rockwell 08, p. 177. 
Description. Adult male—Above olive-green with a greyish tinge ; 
superciliary line, « mark under the eye, and a malar stripe white ; 
lores black ; throat and breast, edge of wing and under wing-coverts 
bright yellow ; abdomen white, flanks buffy ; iris brown, bill black, 
legs dusky blueish-grey in life. Length 7-0; wing 3-20; tail 3-40; 
culmen -55; tarsus -98. 
The sexes can hardly be distinguished, though the female is generally 
duller in colour, and the lower mandible a pale horn. The male in 
autumn and the young bird are very similar. 
The eastern bird is distinguished by its shorter wing and tail, the 
latter being as a rule shorter than the wing as well, and by the 
restriction of the white malar stripe, which hardly reaches to below 
the eye. A female taken by Aiken May 21st, 1899, near Limon, in 
Lincoln co., now in the Colorado College Museum, is somewhat inter- 
mediate in character. 
Distribution.—In summer from British Columbia to the neighbourhood 
of Mexico City, and from western Kansas to the Pacific; in winter 
in western Mexico, perhaps as far south as Costa Rica. 
In Colorado the Long-tailed Chat is a common summer resident 
in the plains and foothills, and also on the western slopes of the Rockies, 
but it never breeds above 6,500 feet, and does not seem to go any higher 
at other times. It reaches El Paso co. about the middle of May, and 
has been noticed by Aiken as early as the 5th of that month. It has 
been recorded from Boulder co. (Henderson), Denver (Allen), El Paso 
co. (Aiken), and Pueblo (Beckham) on the east of the range; and 
from Lily in Routt co. (Warren), and Grand Junction (Rockwell), 
where it breeds, on the west. 
Habits.—Though often found in gardens and thick 
shrubbery near houses, the Long-tailed Chat shuns 
observation, and remains concealed in the thickest and 
densest growth. It is also very suspicious. It is said 
that no one has yet photographed this or the Yellow- 
breasted Chat on its nest. As a singer, the Chat is 
unique among the Warblers; its notes are a singular 
aa 2. 
