424 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
rufous; throat and breast light ash-gray, rest of underparts pale sulphur-yellow. 
Young: Like adults but with more rufous on tail. 
Range. —Southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south through 
western Mexico to Oaxaca and Chiapas. 
State Records. —The only sure record of the Arizona Crested Flycatcher in 
New Mexico is that of Frank Stephens, who took a specimen June 12, 187G, which 
is now in the Brewster collection (Brewster, 1882, p. 203). It was taken “on the 
Gila River about 40 miles from the Arizona line and 20 miles below old Fort West.” 
Mearns took a specimen July 3, 1892, on Cajon Bonito Creek just over the line 
from the southwestern corner of New Mexico.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In old woodpecker holes in giant cactus or other trees, lined with hair, 
and snake and lizard skin. Eggs: 3 to 5, dull clayey buff with numerous longi¬ 
tudinal lines and dashes of purplish brown or lavender. 
General Habits. —The Arizona, or Large-billed, Crested Fly¬ 
catcher, which is the largest of the genus that comes into the United 
States, breeds mainly in the giant cactus belt. It frequents low mesquites 
and Mr. Stephens found it tame and rather noisy. Its food seems to be 
largely beetles. 
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER: Myiarchus cinerascens cinerascens (Lawrence) 
Plate 42 
Description. — Length: About 8-8.5 inches, wing 3.8-4.2, tail 3.G-4.2, bill 
from nostril .5-.6, tarsus .9. Head slightly crested , rictal bristles strongly developed. 
Adults: Upperparts grayish brown, darker on head; tail with middle feathers dusky 
brown, the rest chiefly cinnamon-rufous on inner webs; outer tail feather with inner 
web dusky at tip, outer web distinctly whitish; wings with middle and greater coverts 
broadly tipped with lighter; pnmaries edged with cinnamon-rufous; throat and chest 
pale ashy , belly pale sulphur-yellow. Young: Similar to adults but tail feathers 
rufous with dark median stripe, wing markings partly buffy, and underparts yellow¬ 
ish white. 
Comparisons. —Of the three flycatchers of the genus Myiarchus found in New 
Mexico, the Arizona Crested is the largest in body and bill, but has only one record 
for the State (on the Gila); the Ash-throated is the medium-sized one of the three 
and is the abundant breeding bird of the State; while the Olivaceous is the smallest, 
being about the size of the Phoebe, with, so far, only two records, in the extreme 
southwestern part of the State. The Olivaceous can be distinguished by its small 
size, olive color, and usually, by the absence of tail markings. The Arizona Crested 
and the Ash-throated may be distinguished by the markings on the outer tail 
feather which, in the Ash-throated, has only a dusky tip; in the Arizona Crested, 
a wide dusky streak along the inner web. (See pp. 423, 427.) 
Range. —Breeds from southern Washington, northern Utah, central Colorado, 
and central Texas to Tamaulipas, Durango, Sinaloa, and northern Lower California; 
winters south to Guatemala and Yucatan. Recorded from northwestern Montana in 
September. 
State Records. —The Ash-throated Flycatcher is an abundant breeder through¬ 
out the lower parts of New Mexico, from the San Luis Mountains (Mearns); and the 
Guadalupe Mountains (Fuertes); north to Shiprock (Gilman); and Rinconada 
(Surber); east to Montoya (Bailey); and the Capitan Mountains (Gaut). It breeds 
