Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/166

130 MusciCAPA rrscA, Ch. Bonaparte's Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 68. Pewit flycatcher, Muscicapa nunciola, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 78. PL 13. Fig. 4 Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 278.

Adult Male. Plate CXX. Fig. 1.

Bill rather long, broad and depressed at the base, compressed towards the tip, acute ; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched, the sides convex, the edges sharp, the tip dechnate ; lower mandible straight, the back convex, the edges sharp. The general proportions are rather slender, the eyes large. Feet short, rather slender ; tarsus shorter than the middle toe, compressed anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind ; toes slender, free ; claws small, weak, sUghtly arched, acute.

Plumage blended, soft, glossy ; feathers of the head elongated and erectile. Basirostral bristles long. Wings of ordinary length, the third and fourth quills longest. Tail rather long, emarginate.

Bill and feet black. Iris brown. The general colour of the plumage is dull olive green, darker on the head ; the quills and tail dusky, the larger coverts and inner secondaries edged with pale brown ; the outer tail feathers whitish on their outer edge towards the base. The lower parts in general are brownish white, the sides dusky.

Length 7 inches, extent of wings 9^ ; bill along the ridge j, along the edge i§ ; tarsus f.

Adult Female. Plate CXX. Fig. 2.

The Female resembles the Male, being only a little lighter on the sides of the neck.

GossYPiuM hehbaceum, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. ii. p. 462 — Monadelphia Poiy- ANDRiA, Linn. Malvaceae, Juss.

See vol. i. p. 359.