Part 26

Columbia River. Fur countries. Labrador. Newfoundland. Rare in the Atlantic States.

Tyrannula pusilla, Little Tyrant Flycatcher, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 144.

Little Tyrant Flycatcher, Muscicapa pusilla, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 288.

67. 14. Muscicapa minuta, Wils. Small-headed Flycatcher.

Plate CCCCXXXIV. Fig. 2. Male.

Wings short, the second quill longest; tail of moderate length, even; general colour of upper parts light greenish-brown; wings and tail dark olive-brown, the outer feathers of the latter with a terminal white spot on the inner web; a narrow white ring surrounding the eye; two bands of dull white on the wing; sides of the head and neck greenish-yellow, the rest of the lower parts pale yellow, gradually fading into white behind.

Male, 5, 8-2/8.

Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Exceedingly rare. Migratory.

Small-headed Flycatcher, Muscicapa minuta, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vi. p. 62.

Sylvia minuta, Bonap. Syn. p. 86.

Small-headed Sylvan Flycatcher, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 296.

68. 15. Muscicapa Ruticilla, Linn. Redstart Flycatcher.--American Redstart.

Plate XL. Fig. 1. Male. Fig. 2. Female.

Second and third quills equal and longest, fourth longer than first; tail rounded. Male with the head, neck all round, fore part of breast, and back, glossy bluish-black; sides of the breast, lower wing-coverts, a patch on the wings formed by the margins of the primaries and the basal half of most of the secondaries, together with three-fourths of both webs of the outer four tail-feathers on each side, and the outer web of the next, bright orange-red; abdomen and lower tail-coverts white. Female with the upper parts yellowish-brown, the head grey, the quills greyish-brown, the tail darker, the parts yellow which in the male are bright orange; the rest of the lower parts white, tinged with yellow. Young similar to the female, more grey above, and with less yellow beneath.

Male, 5, 6-1/2. Female.

Throughout the United States. Abundant. Migratory.

American Redstart, Muscicapa Ruticilla, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 103.

Muscicapa Ruticilla, Bonap. Syn. p. 68.

American Redstart, Muscicapa Ruticilla, Aud. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 202; v. v. p. 428.

American Redstart, Muscicapa Ruticilla, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 291.

GENUS V. PTILOGONYS, Swains. PTILOGONYS.

Bill short, rather strong, somewhat triangular, depressed at the base, a little compressed at the end; upper mandible with the dorsal line convex at the end, the nasal groove wide, the sides convex toward the end, with a distinct notch, the tip short, rather obtuse; lower mandible with the angle rather long and wide, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the sides convex toward the end, the tip small, with a slight notch behind. Nostrils linear, oblong, partially concealed by the feathers. Head ovato-oblong; neck rather short; body slender. Feet short, and rather slender; tarsus shorter than the middle toe with its claw, compressed, covered anteriorly with a long plate and three inferior scutella; toes free, the outer only adherent at the base; hind toe rather large, stouter, outer a little longer than inner; claws moderate, arched, much compressed, laterally grooved, acute. Plumage soft and blended; slight bristles at the base of the upper mandible, and the feathers in the angle of the lower jaw bristle-tipped and curved forward. Wings long, rounded; first quill very small, fourth longest. Tail very long, straight, emarginate, and rounded, of twelve feathers.

This genus seems to connect the Thrushes with the Flycatchers.

69. 1. Ptilogonys Townsendi, Aud. Townsend's Ptilogonys.

Plate CCCCXIX. Fig. 2. Female.

General colour dull brownish-grey; quills and coverts dusky brown; edge of wing dull white; basal part of primaries pale yellow, of secondaries ochre-yellow; edges of all the quills dull greyish-white; secondaries with a faint patch of light brownish-grey on the outer web toward the end; middle tail-feathers greyish-brown, the rest blackish-brown, the outer with an oblique white space, including, from the tip, a considerable portion of the inner web, and more than two-thirds of the outer; the next with a white patch at the end; lower parts paler than the upper; lower tail and wing-coverts broadly tipped with dull white, some of the inner wing-coverts white.

Female, 8-1/4, wing, 4-1/2.

Columbia River.