302 Mr. O. Salvin’s Synopsis 
XXII. A Synopsis of the Genus Setophaga. 
By OsBERT SalviNj M.A.^ F.R.S., &c. 
(Plates VII. & VIII.) 
The genns Setophaga belongs to the American Passerine 
family Mniotiltidse. One of its chief distinguishing charac¬ 
ters is its broad Flycatcher-like bill and its strong rictal 
bristles_, by which its likeness to the Flycatchers of the Old 
World is still further enhanced. The presence of nine in¬ 
stead of ten primaries, however, at once shows that the true 
relationship of Setophaga is with the American Mniotiltidse, 
and not with the Old-World Muscicapidse. 
The position of Setophaga in the Mniotiltidse is well 
defined by Professor Baird, in his ^ Review of American 
Birds f and I have no reason to dissent from the views there 
put forward, except as regards a few minor matters of detail 
which only relate to the grouping of the species together. 
In this work Professor Baird divides the Mniotiltidse into 
four subfamilies, the last of which he calls Setophagince, 
and in it he places all the broader-billed Mniotiltidse— Seto~ 
phaga, Basileuterus, Myiodioctes, and Cardellina, Of these 
genera, Basileuterus appears to be most nearly allied to 
Setophaga, In Basileuterus the bill is more pointed, and not 
so wide at the base in proportion to its length; the rictal 
bristles are not so well developed, and as regards coloration 
the tail is always uniform in tint instead of having the outer 
feathers more or less white on their proximal or distal halves. 
Setophaga is a genus having fairly definite characters. It 
was first characterized by Swainson, in I8$7, in the third 
volume of the ^Zoological Journal^ (p. 360). Although 
he states that he knew five members of the genus, inhabiting 
the temperate regions of America, Swainson only mentions 
one by name— Muscicapa ruticilla, of Linnseus—=which, 
therefore, must be considered the type of the genus. The 
same species was subsequently (1832) selected as the type 
of his genus Sylvania by Nuttall, in his ^ Manual of Orni¬ 
thology^ (i. p. 291)*. 
* In the second edition of his work NiittaU used this name in a dif¬ 
ferent sense, applying it to the birds now placed in the genus Myiodioctes. 
