No. 237 has the outer web of the external rectrices as white as in average specimens of E. obscurus. I have Colorado examples also which cannot be separated from obscurus by this character alone.
112. Empidonax obscurus (Swains.) Baird. Wright’s Flycatcher.—This species was noted only in the vicinity of Tombstone, where a few were found early in April among scattered clumps of trees.
The four specimens collected have the lower mandible pale orange. passing into dusky at the tip, and in this respect differ from some more northern ones in which the part is flesh-color.
113. Empidonax fulvifrons pallescens Coues. Buff-breasted Flycatcher.—A single specimen from the Santa Rita Mountains is accompanied by the following remarks: “Rare here; more numerous in the Chiricahua Mountains last season [1880]; and rather common near Fort Bayard, New Mexico, in 1876. One of its notes is a chirp similar to a Warbler’s.”
395, ♂ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 17. Length, 5.10; extent, 7.90. “Iris dark brown; bill black, yellow below; legs black.”
114. Pyrocephalus rubineus mexicanus (Scl.) Coues. Vermilion Flycatcher.—This beautiful species was found at Cienega Station in April; near Tucson and among the Santa Rita Mountains during May; and about Camp Lowell in early June. In all these localities it was abundant among undergrowth, usually near water. “Their motions resemble those of other Flycatchers, excepting that they have a habit of poising over one spot for several seconds at a time, maintaining their position by a rapid fluttering of the wings very nearly in the manner of a Sparrow Hawk.”
A nest taken April 25, at Tucson, was placed in the horizontal fork of a stout mesquite branch to which it was attached in such a manner that its upper surface was flush with that of the embracing supports. This nest is composed outwardly of small twigs, and is lined with horse and cow hair and a few feathers. It entirely lacks the exterior coating of lichens spoken of by Dr. Merrill,[[98]] but in other respects it agrees well with his description of the Fort Brown (Texas) specimen. The three eggs which it contained are creamy white with rounded blotches of brown and pale lilac wreathed about their larger ends. They measure respectively .72 × .53, .71 × .53, .70 × .52. Mr. Stephens found other nests similar in construction and position to the present one. He considers three eggs the full complement.
Juv., first plumage, ♂ (No. 6153 (Coll.’s No. 466) Camp Lowell, June 1). Above similar to the adult female, but with the rump golden brown; the wing-coverts and outer webs of the secondaries, brownish-fulvous; and the feathers of the occiput, nape and interscapular region tipped with brownish-white; beneath white with a tinge of lemon-yellow on the sides and crissum; the breast and sides of the abdomen thickly marked with rounded spots of clear brown.
The series of adults is a very full one and includes several interesting styles of plumage. Some of the males have the brown of the back mixed with ashy, which has a tendency to form a collar on the nape, and gives the interscapular region a patched appearance. In others the red of the under parts as well as that of the crown is replaced by orange; while one specimen has a large patch of lemon-yellow on the right side of the breast, which shows in striking contrast with the otherwise clear carmine of the lower surface. These variations present a curious analogy to certain similar ones which occur in the Scarlet Tanager and Summer Redbird.
115. Ornithium imberbe ridgwayi, var. nov. Ridgway’s Beardless Flycatcher.