A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 2

55

Pica caudata, Flem. Brit. An. p. 87. Corvus pica, Linn. Faun. Suec. p. 31. Pica melanoleuca, Vieill. N. D. XXVI, 121. Pica albiventris, Vieill. Faun. Franc. p. 119, t. 55, f. 1. Pica european (Cuv.) Boie, Isis, 1822, 551. Pica rusticorum, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. and Birds in Brit. Mus. p. 18.

56

Cyanura diademata (Bonap.), Cyanogarrulus diadematus, Bonap. Consp. p. 377. Cyanocitta diad., Sclater, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 143. The C. galeata, Cab., from Bogota, we have not seen.

57

Cyanura coronata, Swains. Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 437.

58

Cyanocitta sumichrasti, Ridgway, Rep. U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. All Mexican Cyanocittas with a whitish superciliary streak, blue edgings to jugular feathers, etc., are to be referred to this strongly marked race. A very conspicuous character of this variety is the strong “hook” to the upper mandible; the tip beyond the notch being much elongated, or unusually “produced.” In the collection is a specimen (60,058 ♀, Mexico, A. Boucard) which we have referred to this race, but which differs in such an important respect from all other specimens of the several races referrible to californica, as extended, that it may belong to a distinct form. Having the precise aspect of sumichrasti in regard to its upper plumage, it lacks, however, any trace of the blue edgings and pectoral collar, the whole lower parts being continuously uninterrupted dull white, purer posteriorly. The appearance is such as to cause a suspicion that it may be a link between sumichrasti and one of the races of ultramarina. It measures: wing, 5.50; tail, 6.00; graduation of tail, .70.

59

Cyanocitta ultramarina, (Bonap.) Strickland.—Garrulus ultramarinus, Bonap. J. A. N. S. IV, 1825, 386 (not of Audubon).

60

Cyanocitta sordida, (Swains.) (not of Baird, Birds N. Am., which is arizonæ).—Sclater, Cat. Am. B. 1862, 143. Garrulus sordidus, Swains. Phil. Mag. 1827, I, 437.

61

Cyanocitta unicolor, (Du Bus) Bonap. Consp. p. 378.—Cyanocorax unicolor, Du Bus, Bull. Acad. Brux. XIV, pt. 2, p. 103.

62

Hadrostomus affinis. Platypsaris affinis, Elliot, Ibis, 1859, 394, pl. xiii. Pachyramphus aglaiæ, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 164, pl. xlvii, f. 1.—Ib. Rep. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 7, pl. xix, f. 1. Hadrostomus aglaiæ, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. II, 85 (Xalapa).—Ib. Journ. 1861, 252.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1864, 176 (City Mex.). Hab. Northern Mexico, Jalapa, Nicaragua (Scl. Catalogue, p. 240); Yucatan (Lawrence).

63

Pachyramphus major. Bathmidurus major, Cab. Orn. Nat. 1847, I, 246.—Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. II, 89.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 165, pl. xlvii, f. 2 ♀.—Ib. Rep. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 7, pl. xix, f. 2. Pachyramphus major, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1857, 78; 1864, 176 (City of Mex.). Hab. Mexico and Guatemala.

64

M. tyrannus, var. violentus (Tyrannus violentus, Vieill. N. D. XXXV, p. 89. Milvulus v., Scl. Catal. Am. B. 1862, 237), is the South American race of this species. It is exceedingly similar, but differs slightly, though constantly, in certain characters. We have not at present the means of comparing the two.

65

Tyrannus melancholicus, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. XXXV, 1819, 84.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 176.—Sclater, Catal. Am. Birds, 1862, 235. Hab. South America. A more northern race scarcely distinguishable (Panama, Costa Rica, etc.), separated as T. satrapa, Licht.

66

Myiarchus tyrannulus (Müll.), Coues. Muscicapa tyrannulus, Müll. (G. R. Gr. Hand List, No. 5,527). Myiarchus t. Coues, P. A. N. S. Phila. July, 1872, 71. (M. aurora, Bodd.; flaviventris, Steph.; ferox, Gm.; swainsoni, Caban.; panamensis, Lawr.; venezuelensis, Lawr.)

67

Myiarchus tyrannulus, var. phæocephalus (Sclater). Myiarchus phæocephalus, Scl. P. Z. S. 1860, 481.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1872, 73.

68

Myiarchus validus, Cabanis. Tyrannus crinitus, Gosse, B. Jam. 186 (nec Auct.). Myiarchus validus, Caban. Orn. Nat. II, 351, et Auct. Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 62.

69

Myiarchus crinitus, var. cooperi (Kaup). Baird. Tyrannula cooperi, Kaup. P. Z. S. 1851, 51. Myiarchus cooperi, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 180. Myiarchus crinitus, var. cooperi, Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 67.

70

Myiarchus crinitus, var. irritabilis (Vieill.), Coues. Tyrannus irritabilis, Vieill. Enc. Meth. 1823, II, 847. Myiarchus crinitus, var. irritabilis, Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 65. (M. erythrocercus, Scl.; M. mexicanus, Kaup, Lawr.; M. yucatanensis, Lawr.)

Obs.—It is, perhaps, probable that in Yucatan this race grades into the M. stolidus (var. stolidus), since there is a specimen in the collection from Merida (39,213, April 9, 1865, A. Schott) which seems to be very nearly intermediate in every way between the two. It has the very black hill, restricted rufous on inner webs of rectrices, and pale yellow of lower parts of M. stolidus, and the brown pileum and more robust proportions of irritabilis. The specimen, however, is in poor condition, being of worn and faded plumage, and much distorted, so that its true characters cannot be ascertained satisfactorily.

71

Myiarchus stolidus, var. phœbe (D’Orb.), Coues. Tyrannus phœbe, D’Orb. Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. p. 84. Myiarchus stolidus, var. phœbe, Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 78. (Sagræ, Gundl.; stolida, var. lucaysiensis, Bryant).

72

Myiarchus stolidus, var. antillarum (Bryant), Coues. Tyrannus (Myiarchus) antillarum, Bryant, P. B. S. N. H. 1866, p. 2. Myiarchus stolidus, var. antillarum, Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 79.

73

Myiarchus stolidus, var. stolidus (Gosse), Cabanis. Myiobius stolidus, Gosse. B. Jam. p. 168. Myiarchus s. Cabanis, J. für Orn. 1855, 479.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1872, 77. (Stolidus var. dominicensis, Bryant.)

74

Myiarchus tristis (Gosse), Coues. Myiobius tristis, Gosse, B. Jam. 167 pl. xli. Myiarchus t. Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 80.

75

Myiarchus tristis, var. lawrencei (Giraud), Baird. Tyrannula lawrencei, Giraud, 16 sp. Tex. B. pl. ii. Myiarchus l. Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 181, pl. xlvii, f. 3.—Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 74.

Obs.—The most typical specimens are from Mazatlan and northward, across the northern portion of Mexico. On the eastern coast, specimens from Mirador and Orizaba already strongly incline toward var. nigricapillus.

76

Myiarchus tristis, var. nigricapillus, Cabanis. “Myiarchus nigricapillus, Caban.” Scl. Cat. Am. B. 1862, 233, et Auct. M. lawrencei, Coues, P. A. N. S. 1872, 74 (in part).

Obs.—A very strongly differentiated form, but unquestionably grading into var. lawrencei on the one hand, and var. nigriceps on the other.

77

Myiarchus tristis, var. nigriceps, Sclater. Myiarchus nigriceps, Scl. P. Z. S. 1860, 68, 295.—Coues, P. A. N. S. July, 1872, 75.

Obs.—The last three races appear to be all reducible to one species, as, taking the large series of specimens before us (over 30 skins), we find it impossible to draw the line between them. Specimens from Southern Mexico are referrible, with equal propriety, to lawrencei or to nigricapillus, while skins from Panama of nigriceps are less typical than those from Ecuador. This case of gradually increasing melanistic tendency as we proceed southward affords an exact parallel to that of Vireosylvia gilvus and V. josephæ, Sayornis nigricans and S. aquaticus, and many other cases.

78

Myiarchus mexicanus, var. pertinax, Baird, Pr. Phil. Acad. 1859, 303.

79

Sayornis nigricans, var. aquaticus. Sayornis aquaticus, Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, p. 119 (Guatemala).

80

Sayornis nigricans, var. cineracens. Sayornis cineracea, Lafr. Rev. Zoöl. 1848, p. 8.—Scl. Catal. Am. Birds, 1862, 200. The above races are clearly shown to be merely modifications, with latitude, of one type, by the series of specimens before us. Thus, specimens of S. nigricans from Orizaba show more or less dusky on the lower tail-coverts, while in more northern specimens (i. e. typical var. nigricans) there is not a trace of it. Typical specimens of aquaticus, from Guatemala, show merely a more advanced melanism, the lighter markings on the wings becoming greatly restricted; there is still, however, a decided presence of white on the lower tail-coverts. Specimens from Costa Rica (typical aquaticus) exhibit the maximum degree of melanism, the white beneath being confined to a central spot on the abdomen. In cineraceus (from New Granada) the white beneath is similarly restricted, but on the wings is very conspicuous, showing a reversion back to the character of nigricans, though surpassing the latter in the amount of white on the coverts and secondaries.

The S. latirostris (Aulanax l. Cab. & Hein. Mus. Hein. ii, p. 68; Sayornis l. Scl. Cat. Am. B. 1862, 200), from Ecuador, we have not seen. It is probably also referrible to the same type.

81

Contopus lugubris, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1865, 134 (Costa Rica, Baranca).

82

Contopus brachytarsus, Sclater, Cat. Am. B. 1862, 231. (Empidonax brachyt. Scl. Ibis, 1859, p. 441.) A strongly marked race, but distinguishable from schotti only by just appreciable differences in color (being paler beneath), and shorter wing and bill, the latter broader at the tip.

83

Contopus (brachytarsus var. ?), var. schotti, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 1869, 202 (Yucatan). Very nearly related to C. richardsoni, but easily distinguished by the very different proportions.

84

Contopus caribæus (D’Orb.) Muscipeta caribæa, D’Orb. (R. de la Sagra), Hist. Cuba, 1839, 77.

85

Contopus caribæus, var. hispaniolensis, Bryant. Tyrannula caribæa, var. hispaniolensis, Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. XI, 1866, 91.

86

Contopus caribæus, var. pallidus (Gosse). Myiobius pallidus, Gosse, Birds Jam. 166. Blacicus pallidus, Scl. P. Z. S. 1861, 77. Contopus p. Scl. Catal. Am. B. 1862, 231.—March, Pr. Ph. A. N. Sc. 1863, 290.

87

Contopus (caribæus var. ?) bahamensis, Bryant. Empidonax bahamensis, Bryant, List of Birds of the Bahamas, 1859, p. 7. Young with the colors more ashy above, and less yellowish beneath; the upper parts with feathers faintly tipped with paler, causing an obsolete transverse mottling; two distinct bands on wing of pale ochraceous.

Of the above, caribæus, hispaniolensis, and pallidus are clearly to be referred to one species; the C. bahamensis also has many characters in common with them, and no violence would be done by referring it, also, to the same type; it is, however, more modified from the standard than any of the others, though the modifications are not of importance.

88

These measurements are not only those of United States and Mexican examples, but also of Middle American examples (“sordidulus,” Sclater, and “plebeius,” Cabanis), and of a series from Ecuador and New Granada (= “bogotensis,” Sclater). In comparing a quite large number of such Middle American and Equatorial specimens with the large series of Northern examples, we have been utterly unable to appreciate even the slightest difference between them.

The C. punensis (Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 1869, 237; Puna Island, Guayaquil) is founded upon an immature specimen, so the characters of the species cannot be given with exactness. The relationship appears very close to the C. caribæus, there being the same large, very depressed bill, with the long bristles reaching nearly to its tip, and the tail about as long as the wing; while the upper plumage has the light faint transverse mottling seen in the young caribæus, var. bahamensis, and the lining of the wing ochraceous. In colors, however, the two are very different, the young of punensis being ashy-green, instead of pure ash, on the back, the crown very much darker, instead of not appreciably so; the wing-bands are white instead of ochraceous, while the breast and sides are dull sulphur-yellowish, instead of ashy, without any yellow tinge. The measurements are as follows: Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.60; culmen, .72; tarsus, .56.

The C. ochraceus, Sclater & Salvin (P. Z. S. 1869, 419; Salv. Ibis, 1870, 115), of Costa Rica, we have not seen. From the description, however, it seems to be scarcely different from C. lugubris, and it is probably the same. The size (wing, 3.30) appears to be a little smaller, and the belly more deeply yellowish.

89

Empidonax brunneus, Ridgway. A very distinct species, not needing comparison with any other.

90

Empidonax axillaris, Ridgway.

91

Empidonax flavescens, Lawr. May be the southern form of bairdi, but differ in some apparently essential features.

92

Empidonax bairdi, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 301; Ibis, 1859, 442; Catal. Am. B. 1862, 230.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1860, 36. (Hab. Cordova, Coban, Mazatlan, Mirador, etc.)

93

Empidonax fulvipectus, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. Feb. 1871, 11. (Type examined.) A very distinct species, most nearly related to obscurus, from which it differs totally in color and in much shorter tarsus.

94

Empidonax minimus, var. pectoralis. Empidonax pectoralis, Lawr. It seems but reasonable to consider this bird as the southern race of minimus, as the differences—i. e. smaller size and whiter wing-bands—are just what we find in several other species of the same region, compared with allied and probably co-specific northern types,—as griseigularis and acadicus, southern specimens of trailli var. pusillus in which the wing-bands are much whiter than in northern specimens of the same bird.

95

Empidonax griseipectus, Lawr. May possibly be another seasonal plumage of the same species as pectoralis, but differs in some seemingly important respects.

96

Empidonax acadicus, var. griseigularis. Empidonax griseigularis, Lawr. Differing from acadicus only in smaller size and whiter wing-bands.

The remaining described American species of Empidonax, which we have not seen, are the following:—

Empidonax magnirostris, Gould, Voy. Beagle, pl. 8.—Gray, Hand List.

Empidonax albigularis, Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, p. 122 (Orizaba).—Sclater, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 229. This may possibly be the species described above as E. axillaris.

97

Mitrephorus fulvifrons. Muscicapa fulvifrons, Giraud, 16 species Texas birds, 1841, pl. ii (Mexico?). Empidonax fulvifrons, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 301. Mitrephorus fulvifrons, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 45. Empidonax rubicundus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. ii, 1859, 70 (Mexico). Hab. Northern Mexico.

98

Pyrocephalus obscurus, Gould, Zoöl. Voy. Beag. iii, 45.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 46; Catal. Am. B. 1862, 228 (Peru).

99

Pyrocephalus rubineus, (Bodd.) Cab. Muscicapa rubinea, Bodd. (ex Buff. pl. enl. cclxv, f. 1). Pyrocephalus r. Cabanis et Hein. Mus. Hein. ii, p. 67.—Sclater, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 227.

100

Pyrocephalus rubineus, var. nanus, Gould, Zoöl. Beag. iii, 45, pl. vii.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 46, 144; 1860, 282, 295; Catal. Am. B. 1862, p. 228. The last is hardly separable by the characters given, as, although they are never seen in southern specimens, they are not constant in the northern ones. Specimens of nanus are as large as any of rubineus, there being in every region a great range of variation in dimensions.

101

This confounding of the two sexes has probably resulted from guess-work of the collector, who, noticing the marked difference between the male and female, and naturally supposing the former to be the more brightly colored, marked the rufous-breasted specimens accordingly; while the few marked correctly may have been thus labelled after careful dissection.

102

Nyctidromus albicollis. Caprimulgus albicollis and guianensis, Gmelin, S. N. I, 1788, 1030. Nyctidromus americanus, Cassin, Pr. A. N. S. 1851, 179. Nyctidromus guianensis, derbyanus, grallarius,—affinis of authors. Nyctidromus albicollis, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1866, 145. Hab. From Northern Mexico southward to Ecuador and Brazil.

103

Chordeiles popetue, var. minor, Cabanis. Chordeiles minor, Cab. Journ. f. Orn. 1856, p. 5.—Sclater, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 279. Ch. gundlachi, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, 165.

104

Chordeiles acutipennis, (Bodd.) Cass. Caprimulgus acutipennis, Boddært, Tab. Pl. Enl. p. 46 (1783). Chordeiles a. Cassin, P. A. N. S. 1851 (Catalogue of Caprimulgidæ, in Mus. Philad. Acad.). Caprimulgus acutus, Gmel. C. pruinosus, Tschudi. C. exilis, Lesson. Chordeiles labeculatus, Jardine. “Caprimulgus semitorquatus, L., Gm., Pr. Max.” Tschudi. Chordeiles peruvianus, Peale. Hab. South America.

105

The females differ simply in having the light tail-space much reduced in size, and dull ochraceous, instead of whitish; in that of carolinensis it is wanting altogether.

106

Antrostomus macromystax (Wagl.?) Sclater, P. Z. S. 1866, 137 (La Parada, Mex..). ? Caprimulgus macromystax, Wagl. Isis, 1831, p. 533.

107

Antrostomus macromystax, var. cubanensis (Lawr.) Antrostomus cubanensis, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, May, 1860, p. 260.

108

Panyptila cayanensis (Gmel.), Cab. Hirundo cay. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1024. Panyptila cay. Caban. Wiegm. Archiv, XIII, 345 (1847).—Scl. P. Z. S. 1866, 606.

109

Panyptila sancti-hieronymi, Salvin (P. Z. S. 1863, 190, pl. xxii; Scl. P. Z. S. 1866, 607). May be the northern form of cayanensis, which, however, we have not seen.

110

Chætura poliura, (Temm.) Scl. Cat. Am. B. 1862, 101; P. Z. S. 1866, 611. (Cypselus polivurus, Temm. Tab. Méth. p. 78.)

111

Chætura cinereiventris, Scl. Cat. Am. B. 1862, p. 283; P. Z. S. 1863, p. 101, pl. xiv, f. 1; P. Z. 1866, 612. C. sclateri, Pelz. Orn. Braz. I, 1868, pp. 16, 56, is also referrible to it as perhaps a race.

112

Chætura spinicauda, Scl. Cypselus spinicaudus, Tem. Tabl. Méth. p. 78 (ex Buff. Pl. Enl. 726, f. 1). Acanthylis s. Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 971; Bonap. Consp. p. 64. Chætura s. Scl. Catal. Am. Birds, 1862, 283. Hirundo pelasgia, var., Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 581. Hab. Cayenne and Brazil.

113

Genus Lampornis, Swains. Char. Size large (wing, 2.50); tail large, more than half the wing, the feathers very broad; usually a little rounded, sometimes slightly emarginated (as in L. mango, L. virginalis, and L. aurulentus). Bill cylindrical, considerably curved, its vertical thickness least at about the middle. Nasal opercula nearly covered by the frontal feathers; tarsi naked. Wing very long, reaching to or beyond the tip of the tail; first primary longest, only slightly bowed, and not attenuated at tip; inner primaries normal.

The species of this genus belong chiefly to the West India Islands and to Tropical America,—principally on the Atlantic coast. They are all of more than the average size, and distinguished by broad tail-feathers, and rather dull, though handsome colors. In L. porphyrurus the sexes are alike in color. The following species has been accredited to North America, but probably upon erroneous data, since it belongs to northern South America, not even being an inhabitant of any of the West India Islands, except Trinidad. Still it is possible that, as alleged for Thaumatias linnæi (see page 1064), it may have wandered far from its usual habitat, and have reached Florida, as stated by Mr. Audubon.

Lampornis mango, (L.) Swains.—The Mango Hummer. Trochilus mango, L. S. N. I, 191.—Gmel. S. N. I. 491.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 486; pl. 184.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 186, pl. ccli. Lampornis mango, Sw. Zoöl. Journ. III, 358.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 130. Sp. Char.—Male: Above deep golden green; beneath opaque velvety-black medially, from the bill to the anal region, separated from the lateral and superior green by a tint of metallic greenish-blue. Tail richly metallic rufous-purple, the feathers bordered terminally with blue-black; intermediæ plain dark bronzy-green. Primaries plain dull dusky. Female. Similar, but white beneath, except laterally, and with a medial stripe of black, from the bill to the anus. Wing, 2.60-2.70; tail, 1.50-1.70; bill, .90. Hab. Northern South America (Brazil, Guiana, Venezuela, New Granada, Panama, and Trinidad); accidental in Florida???

114

Calypte helenæ, (Lemb.) Gould, Monog. Troch. III, pl. cxxxvi. Orthorhynchus helenæ, Lemb. Aves de l’Isle de Cuba, p. 70, pl. x, fig. 2. O. boothi, Gundl. MSS. (Gould, Monog.).

115

Calypte floresi, (Lodd.) Trochilus floresi, Lodd. MSS. Selasphorus floresi, Gould, Monog. Troch. III, pl. cxxxix. There are certainly few reasons for considering this bird as a Selasphorus, while there are many for referring it to Calypte. The only feature that it shares with the former is the peculiar coloration, and to some extent the shape, of the tail. However, in Selasphorus the outer primary is always (in the male) attenuated and acute at the tip, and the crown is never metallic, while in Calypte the outer primary is never attenuated nor acute, and the crown of the male is always metallic. The form and coloration of the tail are nothing more than a specific character, since no two species, of either genus, agree in this respect. In view, then, of these considerations, we find floresi to be strictly congeneric with the other species of Calypte.