438 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSEBES— CLAMATOBES. 
the edges of the wing- and tail-feathers. The sexes are alike, the 9 averaging at the lesser 
dimensions of the $ . The species requires careful discrimination, in the hands of a novice, 
from any of the little olivaceous species of the next two genera. It is larger ; length 6.75- 
7.25 ; extent 10.75-11.75 ; wing 3.00-3.50, usually 3.40 ; tail about the same, slightly emargi- 
nate ', bill 0.50 or slightly more, little depressed, not so broad for its length as is usual in 
Contopus and Empidoyiax, its lateral outlines straight ; tarsus equalling or slightly exceeding 
the middle toe and claw, these together about 1.33 long; point of the wing formed by the 2d 
to 5th quill ; 2d shorter than 6th ; 3d and 4th generally a little the longest ; 1st shorter than 
6th. Eastern U. S., and British Provinces, very abundant in open places, fields, along streams, 
and almost as domestic as the barn swallow. One of the very earliest arrivals in spring, and a 
late loiterer in fall ; winters abundantly in the Southern States. West to Dakota, Nebraska, 
etc. Its ordinary note is harsh and abrupt, unlike the drawling pe-a-wee' of Contopus virens — 
sounding like pe-wW phe'-he, whence the name. The typical nest is affixed to the side of a 
vertical rock over water, often itself moist or dripping, and composed of mud, grass, and espe- 
cially moss, making a pretty object, lined with hay or feathers. The bird now builds anywhere 
about houses, bridges, and other buildings ; its attachment to particular spots is so strong that 
it will return year after year, and often persist in nesting under the most discouraging circum- 
stances. Eggs 4-5-6, 0.80 X 0.60^ normally pure white, not seldom sparsely dotted. 
122. CON'TOPUS. (Gr. kovtos, Jcontos, a pole or perch, and novs, pous, foot. Fig. 280, c.) Wood 
Pewee Flycatchers. With the feet extremely small ; tarsus shorter or not longer than the 
hill, shorter than the middle toe and claw (except in pertinax) the tarsus, middle toe, and 
claw together, barely or not one-third as long as the wing ; bill flattened, very broad at base ', 
Mdngs pointed, much longer than the emarginate tail, the proportions of the primaries varying 
with the species. Medium-sized and rather small species, brownish-oHvaceous, without any 
bright colors or very decided markings ; the coronal feathers lengthened and erectile, but hardly 
forming a true crest. A small group of woodland species, near Empidonax, but characterized, 
as above described, by the feeble diminutive feet. Nest on boughs ; eggs spotted. 
Analysis of Species. 
Species 7-8 locg, witli a tuft of white fluflfy feathers on the flank. 
Under parts streaky. Wing pointed by 2d primary, supported nearly to end by 1st and 3d, 4th much 
shorter. Tail about 3.00; wing about 4.00. Tarsus shorter than middle toe and claw. . . horealis 380 
Under parts more smooth in color. Wing pointed by 2d, 3d, and 4th quills, 1st much shorter; tail 
3.50 or more; wing about 4.00. Tarsus not shorter than middle toe and claw pertinax 381 
Species under 7.00 long, without an evident cottony white tuft on the flank. 
Tarsus, middle toe, and claw together hardly or not 1.00 long virens 382, 383 
380. C. borea^Us. (Lat. horealis, northern.) Olive-sided Flycatcher. Dusky olivaceous- 
brown, usually darker on the crown, where the feathers have blackish centres, and paler on the 
sides below ; chin, throat, belly, crissum, and middle line of breast, white, more or less tinged 
with yellowish ; wings and tail blackish, unmarked, excepting inconspicuous grayish-brown 
tips of the Mnng-coverts, and some whitish edging on the inner quills ] feet and upper mandible 
black, lower mandible mostly yellowish. The olive-brown below has a peculiar streaky appear- 
ance hardly seen in other species, and extends almost entirely across the breast. This ragged 
aspect of mixed dusky-olive and whitish, together with the large white flufi'y flank-tufts, is 
diagnostic. Young may have the feathers, especially of the wings and tail, skirted with rufous. 
Length 7.00-8.00 ; wing 3.87-4.33, averaging 4.00, very long, folding to terminal third of tail, 
and remarkably pointed; 2d quill longest, supported nearly to the end by the 1st and 3d, tlie 
4th abruptly shorter; tail about 3.00, thus about f the wing, emarginate; tarsus only 0.50, 
shorter than bill, or than middle toe and claw ; tarsus, middle toe, and claw together only about 
1.25 ; bill 0.67-0.75. N. Am. at large, apparently nowhere very abundant, rather common in 
some New England localities, very rare in the Middle and Southern States, less so in the West. 
N. even to Greenland ; S. to Central America in winter. Breeds from New England north- 
