[34.] 2. T yrannhla pusilla. (Swainson.) Little Tyrant Fly-catcher.
Ge n u s . Tyrannula. Swain so n .
Ch . Sp . T y ra n n u la p u s il l a , super olivacea suiter pallidior, fronte orbitisque canescentibus, alia sub-rotundatis .-
remige sextd primam et quartu secundam superanti, rostro brevi lato ; mandibula inferiori pallida.
Sp . Ch . L i t t l e T y r a n t F l y -c a t c h e r , size small; plumage above olive, beneath paler; orbits and front hoary;
wings somewhat rounded; first quill shorter than the sixth, second shorter than the fourth; bill short,
broad; under mandible pale.
We have already called the attention of ornithologists to the fact of there being,
in America, four or five small Fly-catchers, clothed in precisely the same coloured
plumage, but differing essentially in the size and form of their bills, wings, &c.
Now, as the older ornithologists, deceived by this similarity of plumage, neglected
to record those distinctions which really constituted the specific characters, it
becomes utterly impossible either to make use of their names or their synonymes.
The terms in which such birds as Muscicapafusca, atra, phebe, carolinensis, virens,
obscurus, acadica, &c., have been described, are nearly applicable to one and all
of these species (if such they be), no less than to four or five more, from different
parts of America, now in our museum. The task of clearly ascertaining any one
of these from books would, in short, be as hopeless as to attempt identifying the
birds of Mexico or of Brazil by the obsolete descriptions of Hernandez or Margrave.
For this reason, we consider it essential to the clear elucidation of these
birds, that the above names be expunged from our systems, and that the three
species so fully investigated and so accurately defined by Wilson should be consecrated
by the names imposed on them by that most accurate observer of nature.
These are the M. rapax, querula, and nunciola of the American Ornithology; and
these names we shall hereafter quote, without any reference to the confusion and
misapplication of them by other writers.
The Tyrannula pusilla, in all probability, has been confounded with the querula of Wilson, to which, as it bears the closest resemblance, we shall now compare it.
Its colours are the same; but it is a smaller bird, particularly in the bill, which is
rather broader towards the middle, although formed nearly on the same model:
the under mandible is also pale. The chief distinction, however, is in the wings :
those of querula being lengthened and rather pointed, the first quill equal to the
fifth, and the fourth shorter than the second; whereas in pusilla the wings are
much shorter, and somewhat rounded, the first quill shorter than the sixth, and
the fourth manifestly longer than the second. In the former, the second and
third quills are longest; in the latter, the third and fourth. Before we had
investigated the natural affinities of the Fly-catchers, we described this bird as
possibly belonging to the genus Flatyrhynchus. This, however, is not correct,
nor has it any real affinity to that group. A fine specimen, in our collection,
from the shores of Mexico, agrees with that brought home by the Expedition.
On comparing these with twelve examples of T . querula, of all ages, killed
this year in the vicinity of Philadelphia, we find the superior length of the
wings, in querula, an invariable character; they measure, when closed, exactly
three inches, the primaries being almost an inch longer than the secondaries. In
pusilla the length is only 2* inch., and the primaries but A longer than the
secondaries. The colour of the plumage in both is precisely similar.—Sw.
Little is known respecting the habits of this bird. It was first seen by us at
Carlton House, on the 19th of May, flitting about for a few days among low bushes
on the banks of the river, after which it retired to the moist, shady woods lying
farther north.
DESCRIPTION
Of a specimen, killed at Carlton House, lat. 53° N., May, 1827*
Colour of the head, neck, back, lesser wing and tail coverts intermediate between oil-green
and hair-brown. There is a pale-whitish ring round the eye, which colour also encircles the
front. The quill feathers, their greater coverts, a row of the lesser coverts, and the tail, are
pale olive-brown ; the exterior margins and ends of the secondaries being whitish, and there
being two narrow greyish-white bands across the wing, one on the tips of the greater secondary
coverts, and one on the lower row of lesser coverts. The tail is entirely without spots, the
exterior web of the outer feathers being merely a little paler. Under plumage.—The throat
and breast, are pale ash-grey ; the belly, under tail coverts, and linings of the wings pale sulphur
yellow, approaching to siskin-green. On the flanks the yellow is intermixed with dark-
grey. The upper mandible is dark umber-brown, the under one yellowish-brown, with a
resinous lustre. Legs blackish-brown.
Form.—BillConsiderably depressed, the sides somewhat convex, but meeting in an evident
ridge. Its breadth at the base is about two-thirds of the length of its ridge. The rictus is
strongly bristled. The nostrils are small, roundish, and nearly concealed. The wings, when
folded, fall three-quarters of an inch short of the end of the tail, and reach to scarcely one-half
its length. The third and fourth quill feathers are the longest; the second nearly equals them;
the fifth is a line shorter ; and the sixth is two lines and a half shorter than the fourth; the
first is intermediate between the sixth and seventh, and the others diminish in succession, so
that the tenth and the secondaries are seven or eight lines shorter than the fourth. The tail u