178 SAY’S FLYCATCHER. 
specimen now before us is a male, shot by Mr T. Peale, on 
the 17th of July, near the Arkansaw river, about twenty miles 
from the Rocky Mountains. 
We cannot be perfectly sure that this flycatcher has not 
heretofore been noticed, since we find in the books two short 
unessential descriptions which might be supposed to indicate 
it. One of these is the Jfuscicapa obscura of Latham (dusky 
flycatcher of his “Synopsis”), from the Sandwich Islands ; 
but, besides the difference of the tail-feathers, described as 
acute in that bird, the locality decides its identity with ours. 
The other description is that of a bird from Cayenne, the 
Muscicapa obscura of Vieillot,* given by that author as very 
distinct from Latham’s, although he has applied the same 
name to it, no doubt inadvertently. This may possibly be our 
bird ; but, even in this case, the name we have chosen will 
necessarily be retained, as that of obscura attaches to Latham’s 
species by the right of priority. 
This flycatcher strongly resembles the common pewee 
(Muscicapa fusca), but differs from that familiar bird by the 
very remarkable form of the bill ; by the colour of the plumage, 
which verges above on cinnamon brown, instead of greenish, 
and beneath is cinereous and rufous, instead of yellowish 
ochreous ; and by the proportional length of the primary 
feathers, the first being longer than the sixth in our bird, 
whereas it is shorter in the pewee. 
The total length of Say’s flycatcher is seven inches; the 
bill is long, straight, and remarkably flattened; the upper 
mandible is blackish, and but very slightly emarginated ; the 
lower mandible is much dilated, and pale horn-colour on 
the disk. The feet are blackish ; the irides are brown. The 
general colour of the whole upper parts is dull cinnamon 
brown, darker on the head; the plumage at base is of a lead 
colour. ‘The throat and breast are of the same dull cinnamon 
tint, gradually passing into pale rufous towards the belly, 
which is entirely of the latter colour; the under wing-coverts 
* Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., xxi. p. 451. 
