38 
U. S. P. R. E. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ROUTE TO CALIFORNIA. 
SAYORNIS NIGRICANS, Swains .—Rocky Mountain Fly-catcher. 
Tyrannula nigricans, Swains. Synop. Mex. Birds, Phil. Mag. N. S. vol. I, p. 367. 
Muscicapa nigricans, Aud. B. of A. Oct. vol. I, p. 218, pi. 60. 
Sayornis nigricans, Baird, Gen. Rep. IX, 183. 
Abundant throughout all California, constructing its nest in like situations as our Tyrannula 
nunciola, Wils. It seems to have a marked predilection for the vicinity of streams or lakes, 
where it is nearly always to be seen, perched upon a stake or branch, occasionally darting in 
the air for an insect, then returning to the same place to renew its watch and repeat its 
manoeuvres. The nest, composed of mud and mosses, lined with hair, is placed against the 
rocks, the rafters of a house or bridge, or against the inside of a large hollow tree, and the eggs, 
four or five in number, are pure white, speckled with red. 
TYRANNULA TRAILLII, Aud .—Traill’s Fly-catcher. 
Muscicapa trailli, Aud B. of A. Oct. vol. I, p. 234, pi. 65. 
Muscicapa trailli, Aud. B. of A. Fol. pi. 45. 
Abundant. 
PYROCEPHALUS RUBINEUS, Boddaert.—Scarlet-crowned Fly-catcher. 
Pyrocephalus rubineus, Cassin’s Illust. B. of Tex. & Cal. p. 127, pi. 18.— Baird, Gen. Rep. IX, 201. 
Muscicapa rubineus, Bodd. Tab. des PI. Enl. Buff p. 42. 
I had the good fortune to procure at Fort Yuma a specimen of this brilliantly plumaged but 
small fly-catcher, which Dr. Milhau, United States army, informed me is there quite common 
in spring. The plumage of the specimen procured is not brilliant, owing probably to a deformity 
in its bill, which is crossed as in the cross-bill, thereby preventing the bird from obtaining a 
sufficient supply of food for its proper nutriment. I saw another specimen in Tucson, Sonora, 
Mexico, but did not obtain it. It stations itself upon the topmost branches of trees, and when 
pursued, appears wild, flying to a considerable distance before again alighting. This bird forms 
an interesting item for our list, as it proves to be a new species to add to the ornithological 
fauna of California. 
MYIADESTES TOWNSENDII, Aud .—Townsend’s Ptilogonys. 
Ptilogonys townsendii, Aud. B. of A. Oct. vol. I, p. 243, pi. 69 .—Aud. B of A. Fol. pi. 419. 
Myiadestes townsendii, Baird, Gen. Rep. IX, 321. 
Although I procured several specimens during my previous stay in California, still I did not 
find it common there. Dr. T. C. Henry, United States army, assures me, however, that in the 
environs of Fort Webster, New Mexico, now abandoned, large numbers of this species may be 
obtained in the course of a single day’s hunt during the fall and winter months. Its flight 
appears feeble, and when about alighting it expands its tail several times before becoming 
quietly fixed on its perch. On dissecting the specimens which I procured in northern California, 
the stomach was filled with a red berry, growing at that season on bushes which cover the 
mountain sides in great profusion. 
PTILOGONYS NITENS, Swains .—Black Crested Fly-catcher. 
Ptilogonys nitens, Sw. Cab. Cyclo. Animals in Menageries, p. 285.— Cassin’s B. of Tex. and Cal. p. 169, pi. 29. 
Cichlopsis nitens, Baird, Gen. Rep. IX, 320. 
This bird is seldom found in the northern parts of California, although I obtained both old 
and young on the Cosumnes river in 1851. Since then a naturalist and friend of mine residing 
