Birds from Coahuila, Mexico

by Emil K. Urban

Ridgway (1907:576) previously reported the little known and poorly defined Pine Flycatcher from Sierra Guadalupe. Because of its small size (wing, 75 mm.; tail, 65 mm.), No. 32750 is referable to E. a. trepidus. No indication of breeding of the subspecies trepidus exists for Coahuila. Nevertheless, the date (July 6) on which No. 32750 was obtained suggests that this flycatcher may breed in southeastern Coahuila.

*Empidonax difficilis hellmayri Brodkorb.—Specimen examined: one, ♂ 31469, from Sierra del Pino (=5 mi. S, 3 mi. W Acebuches), May 13, 1954, measurements: wing, 71 mm.; tail, 65 mm.; culmen, 11.5 mm.; tarsus, 17.0 mm.

Miller (1955a:167) reported that the Western Flycatcher breeds in the Sierra del Carmen, from 6800 to 7500 feet. According to Miller, Friedmann, Griscom, and Moore (1957:91), this subspecies has been recorded from Sierra Guadalupe. No. 31469 closely resembles, especially in measurements, the specimens of the Western Flycatcher from the Chisos Mountains of Texas as reported by Brodkorb (1935:2).

Empidonax difficilis subsp.—Burleigh and Lowery (1942:194) obtained a specimen of E. difficilis "near the summit of Diamante Pass" that they tentatively identified as E. d. salvini. However, they considered the specimen as possibly E. d. immemoratus or E. d. occidentalis.

Localities listed by Miller, Friedmann, Griscom, and Moore (1957:92) of E. d. salvini and E. d. immemoratus are south of twenty-three degrees north latitude whereas the range of E. d. occidentalis includes parts of Nuevo León north of twenty-three degrees north latitude (occidentalis intergrades with hellmayri at Cerro Potosí, Nuevo León, [Miller, Friedmann, Griscom, and Moore, loc. cit.]). Thus, the specimen from Diamante Pass probably is either E. d. hellmayri or E. d. occidentalis.

**Empidonax fulvifrons pygmaeus Coues.—Miller, Friedmann, Griscom, and Moore (1957:95) listed this subspecies of the Buff-breasted Flycatcher from the Sierra Guadalupe on April 21. This record represents the eastern limit of the range of E. f. pygmaeus in northeastern México.

**Contopus pertinax pertinax Cabanis and Heine.—Burleigh and Lowery (1942:194) obtained one female Coues' Flycatcher "in a small gully just below the summit of Diamante Pass."

Contopus virens (Linnaeus).—I judge from the paucity of records in the literature that the Eastern Wood Pewee is uncommon in Coahuila. Burleigh and Lowery (1942:194) obtained two males at the Chorro del Agua, and remarked also that "it is possible that as far west as Saltillo, this species is a rather uncommon transient." Ridgway (1907:519) listed Contopus virens from Sabinas.

*Contopus sordidulus veliei Coues.—Specimens examined: total 2: ♂ 31467 from Sierra del Pino (=5 mi. S, 3 mi. W Acebuches), May 14, 1954; and ♂ 31653 from the north foot of Sierra Guadalupe (=10 mi. S, 5 mi. W General Cepeda), 6400 ft., April 19, 1953.

Specimen No. 31467 of the Western Wood Pewee was obtained in pine and oak vegetation by Dickerman. Ridgway (1907:523) reported Contopus sordidulus veliei, under the name Myiochanes richardsonii richardsonii, from Sierra Encarnación. Amadon and Phillips (1947:578) obtained a specimen of C. sordidulus from Las Delicias. Miller, Friedmann, Griscom, and Moore (1957:83) remarked that the Western Wood Pewee breeds in the State.