_Icteria longicauda_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, April, 1853,
4.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 249, pl. xxxiv, fig. 2; Rev.
230.—SCLATER, Catal. 42, no. 253.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. Brem. 1870,
331 (Mazatlan).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 98. _? Icteria
auricollis_ (LICHT. Mus. Berl.), BON. Consp. 1850, 331.
SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _virens_. Fourth quill longest; third and
fifth shorter; first shorter than the seventh. Above ash-color, tinged
with olive on the back and neck; the outer surface of the wings and
tail olive. The under parts as far as the middle of the belly bright
gamboge-yellow, with a tinge of orange; the remaining portions white.
The superciliary and maxillary white stripes extend some distance
behind the eye. Outer edge of the first primary white. Length, 7
inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 3.70.
_Young_ (8,841, Loup Fork of Platte, August 5; F. V. Hayden). Above
light grayish-brown; beneath yellow on anterior half as in adult, but
yellow less pure; rest of under parts (except abdomen) ochraceous;
markings on head obsolete, the eyelids only being distinctly white.
HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States, east to Missouri
River and Texas; Cape St. Lucas and Western Mexico.
The most tangible difference between this bird and typical _virens_
consists in the longer tail. In addition, the upper plumage is
grayish, with hardly any olive tinge, and the white maxillary stripe
extends farther back; the bill is not so deep as that of the Eastern
bird. All these differences, however, are in strict accordance with
various laws; the more grayish cast of plumage is what we should
expect in birds from the Middle Province, while the restriction of the
yellow from the maxillæ we see also in Western specimens of
_Helminthophaga ruficapilla_; the longer tail, also, is a well-known
characteristic of Western birds, as distinguished from Eastern of the
same species.
Upon the whole, therefore, taking into consideration the absolute
identity of their habits and notes, we can only consider the _I.
longicauda_ and _I. virens_ as restricted, as being merely
geographical races of one species.
This variety, as well as the Eastern, has in autumn and winter a
slightly different plumage. A pair (53,348 ♂, and 53,347 ♀, West
Humboldt Mountains, Nevada) obtained September 4 differ in the
following respects from spring adults: the upper plumage is decidedly
brown, with even a russet tinge,—not gray, with a greenish wash; the
lores are less purely black, and the sides and crissum are deep
cream-color, instead of pure white; the female has a shade of olive
across the jugulum; both male and female have the lower mandible
almost wholly white, and the commissure broadly edged with the same.
No. 38,402 ♂, Laramie Peak, June, has the throat and jugulum strongly
stained with deep cadmium-orange.
HABITS. The Western or Long-tailed Chat has an exclusively Western
distribution, and has been found from Mexico and Cape St. Lucas to
Oregon, on the Pacific coast, and as far to the east as the Upper
Missouri.
According to Dr. Cooper, these birds appear in San Diego and at Fort
Mojave in the latter part of April. They are said to inhabit chiefly
the warmer valleys near streams and marshes, rarely on the coast. At
Fort Mojave, Dr. Cooper found a nest of this bird May 19, built in a
dense thicket of algarobia. It contained three eggs, and one of the
_Molothrus_. The nest was built of slender green twigs and leaves,
lined with grass and hair. The eggs were white, sprinkled with
cinnamon, somewhat in the form of a ring near the larger end, and
measured .75 by .64 of an inch.
These nests were usually very closely concealed, but one that he found
at Santa Cruz, near the coast, was in a very open situation, only two
feet above the ground. When the nest is approached, the old birds are
very bold, keeping up a constant scolding, and almost flying in the
face of an intruder. At other times they are very shy. The notes and
sounds uttered by the Western bird Dr. Cooper states to be the same as
those of the Eastern species, and with the same grotesqueness. They
leave the State of California on or before the first of September.
Dr. Gambel states that the Chat appears in California about the middle
of April, resorting to the hedges, vineyards, and bushy portions of
gardens to breed.
Mr. Xantus found a nest of this bird (S. I., 896) at Fort Tejon,
California, in May. It is a very symmetrical and exactly circular
nest, six inches wide and three in height. The cavity has a diameter
of three inches at the brim, and a depth of two. It is built of soft
strips of bark, large stems, and branches of dry plants, leaves,
twigs, and other vegetable substances. These are very neatly and
compactly interwoven. The nest is elaborately lined with finer stems
and flexible grasses. Another nest (S. I., 1816), obtained at Neosho
Falls, Kansas, by Mr. B. F. Goss, is of irregular shape. Its height is
four inches, and its diameter varies from three and three quarters to
five inches. It was built in a depression in the ground, and its shape
adapted to its location. The base is composed entirely of leaves,
impacted when in a moist and decaying condition. Within these is
interwoven a strong basket-like structure, made of long and slender
stems, strips of bark, and fine rootlets, lined with finer grasses and
stems of plants.
A nest of this species from Sacramento is composed, externally, of
fine strips of inner bark of the grape and of deciduous trees, coarse
straws, stems of plants, twigs, and dried remains of weeds, etc. It is
lined with finer stems and long wiry roots, resembling hair. This nest
has a diameter of four inches and a height of three. The cavity has a
diameter of three inches at the rim, and a depth of two.
In regard to this variety Mr. Ridgway writes: “In no respect that I
could discover does this Western bird differ from the Eastern in
habits, manners, or notes. The nesting-habits are exactly the same.”
The eggs of this species are, for the most part, larger than are those
of the _virens_. They vary in length from .95 to 1.00 of an inch, and
have an average breadth of .70 of an inch. Their markings do not
differ essentially in shadings from those of the common species.