Although Mr. Henshaw referred all his Arizona Black-capped Flycatchers to pusillus, mine are absolutely typical of pileolatus; in fact they are brighter than some specimens from Nicasio (California), the yellow below being richer, and the upper surface more yellowish, while the bill is equally
narrow and several shades lighter in color. Compared with eastern examples they of course present an even greater contrast. Dr. Coues was undoubtedly right in saying (Birds of the Colorado Valley, p. 327) that pileolatus “is not confined to the Pacific coast region”; but I cannot agree with him in thinking it an inconstant form. On the contrary, I find its characters, as proposed by Mr. Ridgway, so well maintained that any one of my western birds can be separated at a glance when placed in a series of twenty-one specimens from the Atlantic States.
221, ♂ ad., Cienega Station, April 17. Length, 4.70; extent, 6.80; wing, 2.17; tail, 2.23; width of bill below nostrils, .12. “Iris brown; bill dark above, pale brown below. Common here in willows and underbrush along streams.”
257, ♂ ad., Tucson, April 21. Length, 4.90; extent, 7; wing 2.27; tail, 2.30; width of bill below nostrils, .12.
44. Setophaga picta Swains. Painted Redstart.—During the past season this beautiful species was met with only among the Chiricahua and Santa Rita Mountains, but in 1876 Mr. Stephens found it in New Mexico, a Territory from which I believe it has not previously been reported. In the Chiricahua Mountains it was not uncommon after March 21, and many specimens were taken near Morse’s Mill, at an elevation of fully seven thousand feet. They occurred most numerously among pines, in a cañon where they had been previously observed in April, 1880. This experience, it will be observed, differs somewhat from that recorded by Mr. Henshaw, who says: “It appears not to inhabit the high mountains nor the extreme lowlands, but to occupy an intermediate position, and to find the rocky hills covered with a sparse growth of oak most congenial to its habits.”
In the Santa Rita Mountains, where it was rather common in May, Mr. Stephens had the good fortune to find its previously unknown nest and eggs. The nest, which is now before me, is large, flat and shallow. It is composed of bark, coarse fibres from weed-stalks, and fine, bleached grasses, the latter, with a few hairs, forming a simple lining. The cup measures 2.10 inches in width by 1 inch in depth; while the external diameter of the whole structure is rather more than 5 inches, and its depth about 1.50. The eggs, which were three in number, measure respectively .64×.51; .64×.50; and .66×.49. They are clear, dead white, delicately spotted with light reddish-brown, the markings being sparsely distributed over the general surface of the egg, and handsomely wreathed about its larger end. Neither nest nor egg resembles that of S. ruticilla. But a greater surprise is the character of the nesting-site, which was “under a projecting stone, in a bank near a small stream.” This position is so unexpected that, from an unproved collector, I should hesitate to accept the accompanying evidence of identification, which is a simple statement that the parent was sitting, and was distinctly seen. But knowing as well as I do Mr. Stephens’ unusual accuracy and conscientiousness in such matters I cannot doubt the correctness of his determination, especially as the Painted Redstart is a bird of such striking colors and markings that it could not possibly be mistaken by one who is so familiar with its appearance in life.[[70]] After all the case is not more peculiar than that presented among Helminthophilæ by Lucy’s warbler which, as has just been shown, departs from the normal nesting habits of the genus and builds in holes, behind loose bark and in all sorts of unexpected places. The nest above described was taken May 18, when the eggs were sufficiently advanced in incubation to show that the clutch was complete.
Mr. Henshaw comparing the sexes, says: “The adult plumage of the sexes differs little, though the coloration in the female is quite perceptibly duller throughout. The black is less lustrous; the wings are blackish brown instead of pure black; the white on the wing confined to the coverts, and only just visible on the edges of the secondaries.” These differences, however, are not always maintained for one of the two adult females before me is quite as bright as the average male, while the black is not less lustrous, and the white edging on the secondaries is even broader. The other is more like those examined by Mr. Henshaw, but seems to be peculiar in having the sides, with a broad collar across the nape, fine stone-gray.
45. Vireo gilvus (Vieill.) Bonap. Warbling Vireo.—Found among all the well-timbered mountains visited, but nowhere as a common bird.
Of the several characters which are said to distinguish var. swainsoni from gilvus proper, I can appreciate only the slightly different shape of the bill. The relative length of the wing-quills is an absolutely inconstant characteristic with birds from any of the localities represented in my series, while I do not find that western specimens—at least California and Arizona ones—are either paler or grayer than many we get in the Atlantic States. Indeed, nearly the darkest one in my whole suite comes from Arizona. In view of these facts I cannot regard swainsoni as worthy of varietal recognition.
46. Vireo solitarius cassini (Xantus) Ridgw. Cassin’s Vireo.—Common among the foot-hills of the mountains.