Chapter XXII: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (13)

SP. CHAR. Wings long, much pointed; the second quill longest; the first longer than the third. Tail deeply forked. Tarsi short. The upper parts ashy-brown, showing darker brown centres of the feathers; this is eminently the case on the top of the head; the sides of the head and neck, of the breast and body, resembling the back, but with the edges of the feathers tinged with gray, leaving a darker central streak. The chin, throat, narrow line down the middle of the breast and body, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts white, or sometimes with a faint tinge of yellow. The lower tail-coverts somewhat streaked with brown in the centre. On each side of the rump, generally concealed by the wings, is an elongated bunch of white silky feathers. The wings and tail very dark brown, the former with the edges of the secondaries and tertials edged with dull white. The lower wing-coverts and axillaries grayish-brown. The tips of the primaries and tail-feathers rather paler. Feet and upper mandible black, lower mandible brown. The young of the year similar, but the color duller; edges of wing-feathers dull rusty instead of grayish-white. The feet light brown. Length, 7.50; wing, 4.33; tail, 3.30; tarsus, .60.

HAB. Northern portions of whole of North America, throughout Rocky Mountains, south through elevated regions of Mexico to Costa Rica. Localities: Oaxaca, high regions, Oct. (SCL. 1858, 301); Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 366); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 122); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 115); Veragua (SALV. 1870, 199); San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 474, winter).

There is wonderfully little variation in this species, both in coloration and size, with different regions; in fact none other than individual can be observed. Contrary to the usual rule, spring specimens have a more appreciable sulphur-yellow tinge below.

HABITS. This still comparatively rare species was first obtained by Richardson and described by Swainson. The specimen was shot on the Saskatchewan. No other was taken, and no information was obtained in reference to its habits. It appears to have been next met with by Mr. John Bethune, in Cambridge, June 7, 1830, in the woods of Mount Auburn. This and a second specimen, obtained soon after, were females, on the point of incubation. A third female was shot in the following year, June 21. Supposed to be a new species, it was described by Mr. Nuttall as _Tyrannus cooperi_. All the specimens procured had their stomachs filled with torn fragments of bees, wasps, and similar insects.

Mr. Nuttall, who watched the motions of two other living individuals of this species, states that they appeared tyrannical and quarrelsome even with each other. Their attacks were always accompanied with a whining, querulous twitter. The disputes seemed to be about the occupancy of certain territories. One bird, a female, appeared to confine herself to a small clump of red cedars, in the midst of a sandy piece of forest. From the tree-tops she kept a sharp lookout for passing insects, and pursued them, as they appeared, with great vigor and success, sometimes chasing them to the ground, and returning to her perch with a mouthful which she devoured at her leisure. When she resumed her position, she would occasionally quiver her wings and tail, erect her crest, keeping up a whistling call of _pŭ-pŭ_, uttered with variations. Besides this call the male had a short song which sounded like _ch’-phe’bēē_.

The nest of this pair Mr. Nuttall discovered in the horizontal branch of a tall red cedar, fifty feet from the ground. It was made externally of interlaced dead twigs of the cedar, lined with wiry stems, and dry grasses, and fragments of lichens. It contained three young, which remained in the nest twenty-three days, and were fed on beetles and other insects. Before they left their nests they could fly as well as their parents. The male bird was very watchful, and would frequently follow Mr. Nuttall half a mile. They were in no way timid, and allowed him to investigate them and their premises without any signs of alarm.

In 1832 the same pair, apparently, took possession of a small juniper, near the tree they had occupied the year before, in which, at the height of fifteen feet, they placed their nest. It contained four eggs which, except in their superior size, were precisely similar to those of the Wood Pewee, yellowish cream-color, with dark brown and lavender-purple spots, thinly dispersed. After removing two of these eggs, the others were accidentally rolled out of the nest. The pair constructed another nest, again in a cedar-tree, at a short distance. The next year they did not return to that locality. Mr. Nuttall afterwards met with individuals of this species in the fir woods on the Columbia.

On the 8th of August, 1832, Mr. Audubon, in company with Mr. Nuttall, obtained the specimen of this species in Brookline, Mass., from which his drawing was made. In the course of his journey farther east, Audubon found it in Maine, on the Magdeleine Islands, and on the coast of Labrador. He afterwards met with it in Texas.

Mr. Boardman reports the Olive-sided Flycatcher as having of late years been very abundant during the summer in the dead woods about the lakes west of Calais, where formerly they were quite uncommon. Mr. Verrill mentions it as a summer visitant in Oxford County, in the western part of the State, but not very common, and as undoubtedly breeding there. It was never observed there before the 20th of May. It is said to be more abundant at Lake Umbagog.

In Western Massachusetts Mr. Allen regards this bird as a not very rare summer visitant. It arrives about May 12, breeds in high open woods, and is seldom seen at any distance from them. It leaves about the middle of September.

Mr. William Brewster, who resides in Cambridge, in the neighborhood in which this species was first observed by Mr. Nuttall, informs me that these birds still continue to be found in that locality. He has himself met with five or six of their nests, all of which were placed near the extremity of some long horizontal branch, usually that of a pitch-pine, but on one occasion in that of an apple-tree. The eggs were laid about the 15th of June, in only one instance earlier. The females were very restless, and left their nest long before he had reached it, and, sitting on some dead branch continually uttered, in a complaining tone, notes resembling the syllables _pill-pill-pill_, occasionally varying to _pu-pu-pu_. The males were fierce and quarrelsome, and attacked indiscriminately everything that came near their domain, sometimes seeming even to fall out with their mates, fighting savagely with them for several seconds. When incubation was at all far advanced, the birds evinced considerable courage, darting down to within a few inches of his head, if he approached their nest, at the same time loudly snapping their bills.

A nest of this Flycatcher was found in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, in June, 1858. It was built on the top of a dead cedar, and contained three eggs. It was a flat, shallow structure, five inches in its external diameter, and with a very imperfectly defined cavity. The greatest depth was less than half an inch. It was coarsely and loosely built of strips of the bark and fine twigs of the red cedar, roots, mosses, dry grasses, etc. The nest was so shallow, that, in climbing to it, two of the eggs were rolled out and broken.

Mr. Charles S. Paine has found this bird breeding in Randolph, Vt. On one occasion he found its nest on the top of a tall hemlock-tree, but was not able to get to it.

In Philadelphia, Mr. Trumbull found this species very rare. It passed north early in May, and south in September. Near Hamilton, Canada, it is very rare, none having been seen; and two specimens obtained near Toronto are all that Mr. McIlwraith is aware of having been taken in Canada West.

Dr. Hoy informs me that this species used to be quite common near Racine, frequenting the edges of thick woods, where they nested. They have now become quite scarce. Some years since, he found one of their nests, just abandoned by the young birds, which their parents were engaged in feeding. It was on the horizontal branch of a maple, and was composed wholly of _usneæ_.

In Washington Territory this bird appears to be somewhat more common than in other portions of the United States. Dr. Suckley obtained a specimen at Fort Steilacoom, July 10, 1856. It was not very abundant about Puget Sound, and showed a preference for shady thickets and dense foliage, where it was not easily shot. Dr. Cooper speaks of it as very common, arriving early in May and frequenting the borders of woods, where, stationed on the tops of tall dead trees, it repeats a loud and melancholy cry throughout the day, during the whole of summer. It frequents small pine groves along the coast, and also in the interior, and remains until late in September.

In California Dr. Cooper found this species rather common in the Coast Range towards Santa Cruz, where they had nests in May; but as these were built in high inaccessible branches, he was not able to examine them. He also found it at Lake Tahoe in September.

This species was only met with by Mr. Ridgway in the pine woods high up on the East Humboldt, Wahsatch, and Uintah Mountains. There it was breeding, but was nowhere abundant, not more than two pairs being observed within an area of several miles. They preferred the rather open pine woods, and were shot from the highest branches. Their common note was a mellow _puer_, much like one of the whistling notes of the Cardinal Grosbeak (_Cardinalis virginianus_).

Mr. Dresser states it to be not uncommon near San Antonio in the winter season. Dr. Heermann mentions that two specimens of this species were obtained, to his knowledge, on the Cosumnes River, in California. It has been taken in winter, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard, and has been met with at Jalapa, and even as far south as Guatemala.

A single specimen of this bird was taken, August 29, 1840, at Nenortalik, Greenland, and sent to Copenhagen.

The eggs of this species measure .86 of an inch in length by .62 in breadth, and are rounded at one end and sharply tapering at the other. The ground-color is a rich cream-color with a roseate tint. They are beautifully marked around the larger end with a ring of confluent spots of lilac, purple, and red-brown. These vary in number and in the size of this crown, but the markings are invariably about the larger end, as in _Contopus virens_.

Contopus pertinax, CABANIS & HEINE.

MEXICAN OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.

_Contopus pertinax_, CAB. et HEIN. Mus. Hein. II, p. 72.—SCLATER,
Catal. Am. B. 1862, 231.—COUES, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866,
60.—ELLIOT, Illust. B. Am. I, pl. viii.—COOPER, Geol. Surv.
Calif. Orn. I, 324.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 324. _Contopus
borealis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 301; 1859, 43; Ibis, 1859,
122, 440.

SP. CHAR. Nearly uniformly olive-gray, lighter on the throat and abdominal region, where is a strong tinge of ochraceous-yellow; feathers of the wings with faintly lighter edges. Length about 8.00; wing, 4.45; tail, 3.90; depth of its fork, .35; culmen, .92; tarsus, .70. Rictal bristles long, about half the bill; lower mandible whitish. _Young._ Similar, but with a stronger ochraceous tinge on the abdomen and lining of the wings, and two distinct ochraceous bands across the wing.

HAB. Mexico generally, into southern borders of United States (Fort Whipple, Arizona; DR. COUES).

HABITS. Dr. Coues found this species a rare summer resident at Fort Whipple, where a single specimen was taken August 20, in good plumage. This was its first introduction into the fauna of the United States. It is one of several Mexican and peninsular birds found in Upper Arizona, probably following the course of the valley of the Great Colorado River. No observations were made in reference to its habits.

This species is abundant in the Department of Vera Cruz, according to Mr. Sumichrast, who gives it as confined to the alpine region. He found both it and _C. virens_ common in the mountains of Orizaba, between the height of 3,600 and 7,500 feet.

Contopus virens, CABANIS.

WOOD PEWEE.

_Muscicapa virens_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 327.—GMELIN, Syst.
Nat. I, 1788, 936.—LATHAM, Index Orn.—LICHT. Verz. 1823,
563.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 285.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834,
93; V, 1839, 425, pl. cxv.—Ib. Synopsis, 1839, 42.—IB. Birds
Am. I, 1840, 231, pl. lxiv.—GIRAUD, Birds L. Island, 1844, 43.
_Muscicapa querula_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 68, pl.
xxxix (not of WILSON). _Muscicapa rapax_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II,
1810, 81, pl. xiii, f. 5. _Tyrannula virens_, RICH. App. Back’s
Voyage.—BONAP. List, 1838. _Myiobius virens_, GRAY. _Tyrannus
virens_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 316. _Contopus
virens_, CABANIS, Journal für Ornithologie, III, Nov. 1855,
479.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 190.—SCLATER, Catal. 1862,
231.—SAMUELS, 137.

SP. CHAR. The second quill longest; the third a little shorter; the first shorter than the fourth; the latter nearly .40 longer than the fifth. The primaries more than an inch longer than the secondaries. The upper parts, sides of the head, neck, and breast, dark olivaceous-brown, the latter rather paler, the head darker. A narrow white ring round the eye. The lower parts pale yellowish, deepest on the abdomen; across the breast tinged with ash. This pale ash sometimes occupies the whole of the breast, and even occasionally extends up to the chin. It is also sometimes glossed with olivaceous. The wings and tail dark brown; generally deeper than in _S. fuscus_. Two narrow bands across the wing, the outer edge of first primary and of the secondaries and tertials, dull white. The edges of the tail-feathers like the back; the outer one scarcely lighter. Upper mandible black; the lower yellow, but brown at the tip. Length, 6.15; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.05.

HAB. Eastern North America to the borders of the high Central Plains. Localities: ? Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 122); Mexico (SCL. Ibis, I, 441); Cuba? (CAB. J. III, 479; GUNDL. Rep. 1865, 239); Costa Rica (CAB. J. 1861, 248; LAWR. IX, 115); Coban (SCL. List); Vera Cruz, alpine region, breeds (SUM. M. Bost. Soc. I, 557); San Antonio, Texas and Eastern Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 474, breeds).

Young birds are duller in plumage; the whitish markings of wing tinged with ferruginous; the lower mandible more dusky.

HABITS. The common Wood Pewee of eastern North America occurs in abundance from the Atlantic to the great plains, and from Texas to New Brunswick. It breeds from South Carolina and Texas north. It is found in Central and Southern Maine, but is not so abundant as it is farther south. It is found near St. Stephens, N. B., and breeds in that vicinity, but is not common. It is a summer visitant at Norway, Me., but Professor Verrill states that it is much less common than in Massachusetts, where it arrives the last of May. At Hamilton, in Canada, Mr. McIlwraith records this species as abundant in the summer, arriving there the middle of May. I am not aware of its having been taken north of the 45th parallel of latitude, with the exception of one at Red River, Minnesota, and another at Fort William by Mr. Kennicott. It is said by Dr. Coues to be a summer resident of South Carolina from the middle of April to the middle of October, and Mr. Dresser states that he found it very common in the wooded river-bottoms near San Antonio during the summer, not arriving there until late in April or early in May. Their call-note, he states, is a low prolonged whistle. Their stomachs were found to contain minute coleopterous insects. Dr. Woodhouse also speaks of it as common in Texas and in the Indian Territory. In the Department of Vera Cruz, Mr. Sumichrast found this species, as well as the _Contopus pertinax_, common in the mountains of Orizaba, between the height of 3,600 and 7,500 feet.

In Pennsylvania, Wilson states that the Wood Pewee is the latest of the summer birds in arriving, seldom coming before the 12th or 15th of May. He found it frequenting the shady high-timbered woods, where there is little underwood and an abundance of dead twigs and branches. It was generally found in low situations. He adds that it builds its nest on the upper side of a limb or branch, formed outwardly of moss and lined with various soft materials, and states that the female lays five white eggs, and that the brood leave the nest about the middle of June. Probably the last statement is correct as applied to Pennsylvania, but the intimation as to the color of the egg and some of the characteristics of the nest is so inaccurate as to make it doubtful whether Wilson could have ever seen the nest for himself.

This species, like all its family, is a very expert catcher of insects, even the most minute, and has a wonderfully quick perception of their near presence, even when the light of day has nearly gone and in the deep gloom of thick woods. It takes its station on the end of a low dead limb, from which it darts out in quest of insects, sometimes for a single individual, which it seizes with a peculiar snap of its bill; and, frequently meeting insect after insect, it keeps up a constant snapping sound as it passes on, and finally returns to its post to resume its watch. During this watch it occasionally is heard to utter a low twitter, with a quivering movement of the wings and tail, and more rarely to enunciate a louder but still feeble call-note, sounding like _pēē-ē_. These notes are continued until dark, and are also uttered throughout the season.

Mr. Nuttall states that this species at times displays a tyrannical disposition, and that it has been observed to chase a harmless Sparrow to the ground, because it happened to approach his station for collecting insects.

According to Mr. Audubon, some of these birds spend the winter months in the extreme Southern States, Louisiana and Florida, where they feed upon berries as well as insects.

In Massachusetts the Wood Pewee is a very abundant species, and may usually be found in any open woods, or in an orchard of large spreading trees. In the latter situation it frequently breeds. It usually selects a lower dead limb of a tree, from ten to thirty feet from the ground, and occasionally, but more seldom, a living moss-grown branch. It always chooses one that is covered with small lichens, and saddles its nest upon its upper surface, so closely assimilated by its own external coating of lichens as not to be distinguishable from a natural protuberance on the limb. This structure is extremely beautiful, rivalling even the artistic nests of the Humming-Bird. It is cup-shaped, and a perfect segment of a sphere in shape. The periphery of the nest is made of fine root fibres, small lichens, and bits of cobwebs and other similar materials. The outer sides are entirely covered with a beautiful coating of mosses and lichens, glued to the materials with the saliva of the builder. The eggs are usually four in number, measure .78 of an inch in length and .55 in breadth. They are obtuse at one end and tapering at the other, have a ground of a rich cream-color, and are marked about the larger end with a wreath of blended purple, lilac, and red-brown in large and confluent spots. They hatch about the middle of June, leave the nest in July, and have but a single brood.

A nest of this species, taken in Lynn by Mr. Welch, and built on the dead branch of a forest tree, has a diameter of three and a height of one and a half inches. The cavity has a depth of one inch, and a diameter, at the rim, of two and a half inches. The base is flattened by its position. Its walls are strongly woven of fine dry stems, intermingled with vegetable down, covered externally with lichens, cemented to the exterior, apparently by the secretions of the bird. The base is thinner, and made of softer materials.

During the winter months this species is present as a migrant in various parts of Mexico, south to Guatemala.

Contopus virens, var. richardsoni, BAIRD.

SHORT-LEGGED PEWEE; WESTERN WOOD PEWEE.

_Tyrannula richardsoni_, SWAINSON, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 146, plate.
_Muscicapa richardsoni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 299, pl.
ccccxxxiv. _Tyrannula phœbe_, BON. List, 1838, 24. _Muscicapa
phœbe_, AUDUBON, Synopsis, 1839, 42.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840,
219, pl. lxi (not of LATHAM). _Tyrannus phœbe_, NUTTALL, Man.
I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 319. _Tyrannus atriceps_, D’ORBIGNY (fide G.
R. GRAY). _Contopus richardsoni_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
189.—SCLATER, Catal. 1862, 231.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
325. _Contopus sordidulus_, SCLATER, Catal. 1862, 231.
_Contopus plebeius_, (CABAN.) SCLATER, Cat. 1862, 231.
_Contopus bogotensis_, (BONAP.) SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 459.
(_Tyrannula b._ BONAP. Comp. Rend. p. 196.)

SP. CHAR. General appearance of _C. virens_. Bill broad. Wings very long and much pointed, considerably exceeding the tail; second quill longest; third a little shorter; first shorter than fourth, and about midway between distance from second to fifth (.60 of an inch). Primaries 1.20 inches longer than secondaries. Tail moderately forked. Above dark olive-brown (the head darker); the entire breast and sides of head, neck, and body of a paler shade of the same, tingeing strongly also the dull whitish throat and chin. Abdomen and under tail-coverts dirty pale-yellowish. Quills and tail dark blackish-brown; the secondaries narrowly, the tertials more broadly edged with whitish. Two quite indistinct bands of brownish-white across the wings. Lower mandible yellow; the tip brown. Length, 6.20; wing, 3.65; tail, 3.10.

HAB. High central dry plains to the Pacific; Rio Grande Valley, southward to Mexico; Labrador (AUDUBON). Localities: Orizaba, Guatemala, Coban (SCL. Catal. 1862, 231); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 115); Matamoras, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 474, breeds); San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, one spec.); W. Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 61).

This species has a very close relationship to _C. virens_, agreeing with it in general shape of wings and in color. The wings are, however, still longer and more pointed; the primaries exceeding the secondaries by nearly 1.25 inches. The proportions of the quills are nearly the same in both; the primaries, too, are similarly a little emarginated or attenuated towards the end. The tail is rather more deeply forked, the feathers broader. The bills are similar; the feet are larger and stouter.

The general colors are almost precisely the same. The outer primary, however, lacks the decidedly white margin. The under parts are much darker anteriorly, the entire breast being nearly a uniform olive-brown, but little paler than the back; the throat, too, in some specimens, being scarcely paler. There is little or none of the pale sulphur-yellow of _C. virens_ on the abdomen, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries are much darker olivaceous. In _C. virens_ the middle line of the breast is always paler than the sides, or at least the connecting space is short.

The lower mandible is generally yellow; in a few specimens, however, it is quite dusky, especially on its terminal half.

The young bird has the darker head and broader light edgings, with the ferruginous tinge on the wing-markings, usually seen in young of the _Tyrannulas_.

A large series shows considerable variations; autumnal specimens have a more appreciable tinge of yellow on the lower parts, while summer individuals are more grayish.

HABITS. This species was first obtained by Richardson in the Arctic regions, and described by Swainson. It was found in the neighborhood of the Cumberland House, where it frequented moist shady woods by the banks of rivers and lakes. It was supposed likely to travel in summer as far as the shores of the Great Slave Lake.

Since its discovery by Richardson, this Flycatcher has been found to have a widely extended geographical range, as far to the south as Guatemala, and even Panama, and northward as far as the 60th parallel of latitude, and from the great plains to the Pacific.

During the survey of the Mexican Boundary, specimens of this bird were obtained by Mr. J. H. Clark in El Paso, Texas, and in the month of May by Lieutenant Couch in Monterey, Mexico.

Mr. Dresser found that this bird was very common near Matamoras during the summer, and that they were breeding there. He also shot one specimen near San Antonio in May. Its stomach contained small insects. Dr. Coues thinks this Flycatcher an exceedingly abundant summer resident in the Territory of Arizona. It arrives there in spring about the first of May, the latest of the Flycatchers, and is deemed by the Doctor a counterpart of the eastern _Contopus virens_. It departs from that Territory about the third week in September. It is found in all situations, but most especially in open forests.

This species arrives in California, according to Dr. Cooper, at least a fortnight earlier than the date of its earliest advent in Arizona as given by Dr. Coues, or about the 15th of April, and spends its summers in the most mountainous parts of the State. It is said to perch mainly on the lower dead limbs, watching for the passing insects, uttering occasionally a plaintive _pe-ah_. It is usually very silent, and seems to prefer the dark, solitary recesses of the forests.

Dr. Hoy informs me that this Flycatcher is occasionally found in the neighborhood of Racine, but that it is rare. It keeps in the deep forest, and never comes near dwellings in the manner of _C. virens_.

This bird was found breeding at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus, at Napa Valley by Mr. A. J. Grayson, and both in the Sacramento Valley and at Parley’s Park, among the Wahsatch Mountains, by Mr. Ridgway.

A nest of this bird in the Smithsonian Museum (10,076) from California, collected by W. Vuille, had been apparently saddled on the limb of a tree, in the manner of _C. virens_, having a broad flattened base, and a general resemblance to the nests of that species. It differs, however, somewhat in regard to materials, and most especially in having no lichens attached to the exterior. It has a diameter of three inches and a height of one and a half. The cavity is about one inch deep and two wide at the rim. The base and sides of this nest are largely composed of the exuviæ of chrysalides, intermingled with hemp-like fibres of plants, stems, and fine dry grasses. The rim is firmly wrought of strong wiry stems, and a large portion of the inner nest is of the same material. The whole is warmly and thoroughly lined with the soft fine hair of small quadrupeds and with vegetable fibres.

According to Mr. Ridgway, this is the most abundant and generally diffused of all the _Tyrannuli_ of the Great Basin, as well as of California. It inhabits every grove of the lowest valleys, as well as the highest aspen copses on the mountains in the alpine region, and breeds abundantly in all these places. Resembling the eastern _C. virens_ in its general habits, its appearance, and its every motion, it yet differs most widely from it in notes, the common one being a disagreeable weird squeak, very unlike the sad, wailing, but not unpleasant one of the eastern Wood Pewee. Mr. Ridgway relates that having shot a female bird, and taken her nest and eggs, he was surprised, a few days afterwards, to find the male with another mate, and a new nest built in precisely the same spot from which the other had been taken. Upon climbing to the nest, it was found to contain one egg; and the parents exhibited very unusual distress. When visited two or three days after, it was found to be deserted and the egg broken.

The eggs, three in number, measure .69 of an inch in length and .53 in breadth. They have a ground of beautiful cream-color slightly tinged with a roseate tint, surrounded at the larger end with a wreath of purple and reddish-brown spots. A few smaller markings are sparingly distributed, but nearly all are about the larger end.

GENUS EMPIDONAX, CABANIS.

_Empidonax_, CABANIS, Journal für Ornithologie, III, Nov. 1855, 480.
(Type, _Tyrannula pusilla_.) _Tyrannula_ of most authors.

[Line drawing: _Empidonax acadicus._
1225]

GEN. CHAR. Tarsus lengthened, considerably longer than the bill, and exceeding the middle toe, which is decidedly longer than the hind toe. Bill variable. Tail very slightly forked, even, or rounded; a little shorter only than the wings, which are considerably rounded; the first primary much shorter than the fourth. Head moderately crested. Color olivaceous above, yellowish beneath; throat generally gray.

The lengthened tarsi, the short toes, the short and rounded wings, and the plain dull olivaceous of the plumage, readily distinguish the species of this genus from any other North American Flycatchers. The upper plates of the tarsi in a good many species do not encircle the outside, but meet there a row on the posterior face.

There are few species of North American birds more difficult to distinguish than the small Flycatchers, the characters, though constant, being very slight and almost inappreciable, except to a very acute observer.

The following synopsis may aid in distinguishing the species:—

Species and Varieties.

A. Inner webs of secondaries edged with pinkish-buff.

_a._ Olive-brown above, whitish beneath; tibiæ
ochraceous.

E. brunneus.[89] Third quill longest, first equal to
seventh; tail slightly rounded. Russet-olive above,
the crown, wings, and tail with a reddish-brown tinge;
a yellowish-gray shade across the breast, and a faint
sulphur-yellow tinge to posterior lower parts.
Wing-bands broad, sharply defined, deep ochraceous;
lining of wing and tibiæ slightly tinged with the
same. Wing, 2.35; tail, 2.30; bill, .57 and .27;
tarsus, .56; middle toe, .33. _Hab._ Parana.

E. axillaris.[90] Third quill longest, first equal to
seventh; tail? Dark grayish-brown above, nearly
uniform, breast ochraceous-olive; a just appreciable
tinge of sulphur-yellow on abdomen. Wing-bands narrow,
badly defined, in color nearly like the back; lining
of the wing and tibiæ very deep ochraceous. Wing,
2.40; tail, 2.50; bill, .60 and .30; tarsus, .60;
middle toe, .43. _Hab._ Orizaba.

_b._ Olive-green above, yellow beneath; tibiæ greenish.

E. flavescens.[91] Third, or third and fourth quills
longest; first equal to eighth. Tail decidedly
emarginated. Intense greenish-olive above, the crown
with a decided russet tinge; beneath bright
lemon-yellow, with a shade of fulvous-brown across the
breast. Wing, 2.35 to 2.70; tail, 2.20 to 2.40; bill,
.59 and .30; tarsus, .66; middle toe, .35. _Hab._
Costa Rica.

E. bairdi.[92] Fourth quill longest, first shorter
than eighth. Tail slightly emarginated. Dull
greenish-olive above, nearly uniform; beneath clear
sulphur-yellow, with a greenish-olive shade across the
breast. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.50; bill, .62 and .29;
tarsus, .65; middle toe, .35. _Hab._ Eastern Mexico
(MIRADOR).

B. Inner webs of secondaries edged with yellowish or
grayish white.

_a._ Olive-green above, yellowish beneath.

§. _Young not mottled above._

E. flaviventris. Bill broad, twice as wide as deep,
and the culmen less than twice the breadth. Outer web
of lateral tail-feather dusky, like the inner.
Wing-bands narrow, whitish. Tail square.

Clear olive-green above, sulphur-yellow beneath;
wing-bands sulphur-yellowish; lining of wing clear
sulphury-yellow. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.35, or less;
bill, .57 and .27; tarsus, .66; middle toe, .37.
_Hab._ Eastern Province North America, south through
Eastern Mexico to Guatemala var. _flaviventris_.

Dull olive-gray above, pale, somewhat ochraceous,
yellow beneath; wing-bands grayish-white; lining of
wing strongly tinged with fulvous. Wing, 2.75; tail,
2.60 to 2.75. _Hab._ Western Province of North
America, south, through Western Mexico, to Colima
var. _difficilis_.

E. fulvipectus.[93] Bill narrow, the width but little
more than the depth, and the culmen considerably more
than twice the breadth at base. Outer web of lateral
tail-feather distinctly whitish, very different from
the dusky of the inner web. Tail deeply emarginated.
Colors of _flaviventris_ var. _difficilis_, but
wing-bands broad and buffy olive, and a deep shade of
fulvous-olive across the breast. Wing, 3.00; tail,
2.90; bill, .61 and .22; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .37.
_Hab._ City of Mexico.

_b._ Grayish or greenish olive above, whitish beneath.

¶. _Tail deeply emarginated._

E. obscurus. Exact form and proportions of
_fulvipectus_, but tarsus much longer proportionally.
Ashy above, with a slight olive tinge; white beneath
with no yellow tinge, and without distinct ashy shade
across breast; sides of breast like the back. Orbital
ring, wing-markings, and outer web of lateral
tail-feather pale clear ashy. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.80;
bill, .64 and .24; tarsus, .77; middle toe, .42.

E. hammondi. Very similar, but bill much smaller and
less elongated. Color of upper parts the same as in
_obscurus_; but anterior lower parts nearly uniform
ashy, the throat only indistinctly paler, and the
posterior portions distinctly uniform pale
sulphur-yellow. Outer web of lateral tail-feather less
distinctly whitish. Wing, 2.85; tail, 2.55; bill, .50
and .20; tarsus, .64; middle toe, .34.

E. minimus. Very similar to _hammondi_, but bill much
larger, broader, and the lateral outlines less
straight. Outer web of lateral tail-feather not
appreciably paler than the inner; whole throat
distinctly whitish; wing-bands only about half as wide
as in _hammondi_.

Wing, 2.70; tail, 2.60; bill, .57 and .27; tarsus,
.66; middle toe, .35. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
North America, and Eastern Mexico var. _minimus_.

¶. _Tail doubly rounded._

Wing, 2.35; tail, 2.20; bill, .54 and .25; tarsus,
.62; middle toe, .33. Colors of _minimus_, but
wing-markings whiter. _Hab._ Panama (var. ?) _pectoralis_.[94]

E. griseipectus.[95] Colors of _hammondi_, but
wing-bands whiter and narrower, very sharply defined;
sides tinged with clear greenish; jugulum and sides of
throat clear ashy. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.40; bill, .56
and .27; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .35. _Hab._
Guayaquil, Ecuador.

¶. _Tail square, or slightly rounded; feathers acute at
tips._

E. pusillus. Brownish-olive or olive-gray above,
wing-bands olive or gray; beneath whitish, with a
grayish shade across the breast, and a sulphur-yellow
tinge posteriorly.

Olive-grayish above, wing-bands much lighter, or
whitish-gray. Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.70; bill, .69 and
.26; tarsus, .67; middle toe, .40. _Hab._ Western
Province of North America, and Middle and Western
Mexico var. _pusillus_.

Brownish-olive above, wing-bands but little lighter.
Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.50; bill, .64 and .27; tarsus,
.66; middle toe, .38. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
North America, and Eastern Mexico var. _trailli_.

§. _Young with upper plumage transversely mottled.
Wing-bands with a pale buff tinge; upper mandible
brown._

E. acadicus. Grayish-green above, greenish-white
beneath; throat purer white. Wing, 3.10; tail, 2.80;
bill, .67 and .30; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .34.
_Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, and Eastern
Mexico var. _acadicus_.

Wing, 2.65; tail, 2.50; bill, .66 and .30; tarsus,
.62; middle toe, .33. Wing-bands whiter. _Hab._
Panama var. _griseigularis_.[96]

In _Empidonax_, as well as _Contopus_, autumnal birds have the plumage softer and the colors brighter than in spring; the brilliancy of the yellow shades is especially enhanced. The young of the year resemble the parents, but there is a greater tendency to light bands on the wings, which with the other markings of this region show an ochraceous tinge. The lower mandible is also usually tinged with dusky. In the young of _E. acadica_, alone, there are light transverse bars over upper surface, as in the young of some species of _Contopus_ (_C. bahamensis_ and _C. punensis_).

[89] _Empidonax brunneus_, RIDGWAY. A very distinct species,
not needing comparison with any other.

[90] _Empidonax axillaris_, RIDGWAY.

[91] _Empidonax flavescens_, LAWR. May be the southern form
of _bairdi_, but differ in some apparently essential
features.

[92] _Empidonax bairdi_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 301; Ibis,
1859, 442; Catal. Am. B. 1862, 230.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis,
1860, 36. (_Hab._ Cordova, Coban, Mazatlan, Mirador, etc.)

[93] _Empidonax fulvipectus_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. Feb.
1871, 11. (Type examined.) A very distinct species, most
nearly related to _obscurus_, from which it differs totally
in color and in much shorter tarsus.

[94] _Empidonax minimus_, var. _pectoralis_. _Empidonax
pectoralis_, LAWR. It seems but reasonable to consider this
bird as the southern race of _minimus_, as the
differences—i. e. smaller size and whiter wing-bands—are
just what we find in several other species of the same
region, compared with allied and probably co-specific
northern types,—as _griseigularis_ and _acadicus_, southern
specimens of _trailli_ var. _pusillus_ in which the
wing-bands are much whiter than in northern specimens of the
same bird.

[95] _Empidonax griseipectus_, LAWR. May possibly be another
seasonal plumage of the same species as _pectoralis_, but
differs in some seemingly important respects.

[96] _Empidonax acadicus_, var. _griseigularis_. _Empidonax
griseigularis_, LAWR. Differing from _acadicus_ only in
smaller size and whiter wing-bands.

The remaining described American species of _Empidonax_,
which we have not seen, are the following:—

_Empidonax magnirostris_, GOULD, Voy. Beagle, pl. 8.—GRAY,
Hand List.

_Empidonax albigularis_, SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, p.
122 (Orizaba).—SCLATER, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 229. This may
possibly be the species described above as _E. axillaris_.

Empidonax pusillus, CABANIS.

LITTLE FLYCATCHER.

_? Platyrhynchus pusillus_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, May, 1827, 366.
_Tyrannula pusilla_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 144, pl.—RICH.
App. Back’s Voyage, 1834-36, 144.—GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. III,
1847, 156. _Muscicapa pusilla_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 288;
pl. ccccxxxiv.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840, 236, pl. lxvi. _Tyrannus
pusilla_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840. _Empidonax
pusillus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 194. COOPER & SUCKLEY,
176.—SCLATER, Catal. 1862, 229. _Empidonax trailli_, COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 327 (Colorado River).

SP. CHAR. Second, third, and fourth quills longest; first shorter than the sixth. Bill rather broad; yellow beneath. Tail even. Tarsi rather long. Above dirty olive-brown, paler and more tinged with brown towards the tail. Throat and breast white, tinged with grayish-olive on the sides, shading across the breast; belly and under tail-coverts very pale sulphur-yellow. Wings with two dirty narrow brownish-white bands slightly tinged with olive; the secondaries and tertials narrowly and inconspicuously margined with the same. First primary faintly edged with whitish; the outer web of first tail-feather paler than the inner, but not white. Under wing-coverts reddish ochraceous-yellow. A whitish ring round the eye. Length, 5.50; wing. 2.80; tail, 2.75. _Young._ Wing-bands ochraceous instead of grayish.

HAB. High Central Plains to the Pacific. Fur countries. Southward into Mexico. Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 61); Vera Cruz, temp. reg. resident (SUM. Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 557).

This race represents the var. _trailli_ in the region west of the Rocky Mountains. The present bird is paler colored than _trailli_, the olivaceous above much more grayish anteriorly, and more brownish posteriorly, the olive being thus less greenish and less uniform in tint; the brownish shade across the breast is lighter and more ashy, and the yellow tinge posteriorly beneath more faint; the wing-bands lighter and more grayish. In color, _pusillus_ thus approximates somewhat to _E. minimus_, which, however, is a very distinct species, and more closely related to _E. hammondi_; _minimus_ may be distinguished by much smaller size (the bill especially), the wing-bands grayish-white instead of olive-gray, and the tail emarginated instead of appreciably rounded; _minimus_ lays a white egg like _E. obscurus_, while _pusillus_ and _trailli_ lay distinctly spotted ones, and build a very different nest.

HABITS. Professor Baird, in his Birds of North America, assigns to this species an area of distribution extending from the Great Plains to the Pacific, southward into Mexico, and north to the fur country. Dr. Hoy cites it as of Wisconsin in his List of the birds of that State, but without positive data for this claim; it has, however, since been actually taken, a summer resident breeding in Jefferson County, in that State. This is its most eastern known occurrence. In the Smithsonian Museum are skins from Fort Steilacoom, Fort Tejon, and Mexico. This species is probably identical with the Little Tyrant Flycatcher, described by Swainson in the Fauna Boreali as both from Mexico and from the Arctic regions. Dr. Richardson was not able to supply anything in regard to its habits. They were first seen by him at the Carlton House on the 19th of May. For a few days they were found flitting about among low bushes on the banks of the river, after which they retired to moist shady woods lying farther north.

Mr. Ridgway mentions the _E. pusillus_ as the most common of the _Empidonaces_ in the Great Basin, as well as in California and the Rocky Mountains. It is chiefly, if not entirely, confined to the willows along streams, but it is as common in the river valleys as in the mountain “parks.” In all respects it is a counterpart of the _E. trailli_; its notes, as well as its manners, being the same. In Parley’s Park, in the Wahsatch Mountains, at an elevation of over 7,000 feet, they were breeding abundantly; about nightfall they became particularly active, chasing each other, with a merry twitter, through the willow thickets, or, as they perched upon a dry twig, uttered frequently, with swelling throats and raised crest, their odd but agreeable enunciation of _pretty dear_, as their notes were translated by the people of the locality.

In the Department of Vera Cruz, Mexico, Mr. Sumichrast gives this species as a summer resident within the temperate region. He found it quite common around Orizaba in the months of June and July.

It was also met with on the Mexican Boundary Survey in summer, having been taken in June at Los Nogales by Dr. Kennerly, and at Rio Nazas, in Durango, by Lieutenant Couch, the same month.

Dr. Coues mentions it as moderately plentiful as a summer resident in Arizona. None of this genus were very common at Fort Whipple, but this one was by far the most characteristic species. It arrives there about the middle of April, and remains through September.

Dr. Suckley found this species quite abundant in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, where it arrives early in May. It seems to prefer the vicinity of bushes and low trees at the edges of dense forests. This species, he adds, is rather less pugnacious than others of the group, and in habits generally more resembles the Vireo family. Its notes are said to be short but sweet, and just after sundown on warm summer evenings particularly low, plaintive, and soothing.

Dr. Cooper speaks of it as found by him frequenting the dark and gloomy spruce forests, which it seems to prefer to more open places. He found it most numerous near the coast, but also saw a few at Puget Sound, where it arrived about the 25th of April. He speaks of its song as lively but monotonous. He found it very difficult to get a sight of this bird among the upper branches of the tall spruces, its color making it almost invisible in the shade. One of these birds was observed to keep constantly on the border of a small pond and to drive away a Kingbird from the place. He adds that it has a peculiar short and lisping song of three notes, very different from those of the other species. In the fall the young birds uttered a very different call-note.

Mr. Ridgway found this species breeding, June 23, at Parley’s Park, Utah. One nest was built on the horizontal branch of a willow, over a stream, about four feet from the ground. It was partly pensile. It was three inches deep and four in diameter; the cavity was two inches wide and one and a half deep. Externally the nest was somewhat loosely constructed of flaxen fibres of plants, soft strips of inner bark and straw, and lined more firmly with fine roots of plants. This structure was firmly bound around the smaller branches of the limb. The inner nest was much more compactly interwoven than the periphery. The eggs, four in number, were of a chalky whiteness, more pinkish when unblown, finely sprinkled at the larger end with reddish-brown dots. Length, .77 of an inch; breadth, .51.

Another nest from the same locality was built in the upright fork of a wild rose, in the undergrowth of a willow thicket, and about four feet from the ground. It is a much more compact and homogeneous nest. Its external portion was almost wholly composed of the interweaving of the fine inner bark of deciduous shrubs, blended with a few stems of grasses, feathers, etc., and is lined with a few fine grass stems and fibrous roots. The eggs, four in number, have a pinkish-white ground, and are spotted at the larger end with reddish-brown and chestnut spots, in scattered groups.

In the summer of 1870 a son of Mr. Thure Kumlien, of Jefferson Co., Wisconsin, found the nest and eggs of this species. Both parents were obtained, and were fully identified by Professor Baird. The nest was placed in a thick mass of coarse marsh grasses, near the ground, and firmly interwoven with the tops of the surrounding herbage. The grass and reeds, among which it was made, grew in the midst of water, and it was discovered by mere accident in a hunt for rail’s eggs. It was found, June 28, on the edge of Lake Koskonong. It is a large nest for the bird; its base and sides are made of masses of soft lichens and mosses, and within this a neat and firm nest is woven of bits of wool and fine wiry stems of grasses, and lined with the same. The eggs measure .70 by .54 of an inch, are white with a pinkish tinge, and are marked with reddish-brown and fainter lilac blotches at the larger end.

Empidonax pusillus, var. trailli, BAIRD.

TRAILL’S FLYCATCHER.

_Muscicapa trailli_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 236; V, 1839, 426, pl.
xlv.—IB. Syn. 1839, 43.—IB. Birds Am. I, 1840, 234, pl. lxv.
_Tyrannula trailli_, RICH. List, 1837.—BONAP. List, 1838.
_Tyrannus trailli_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 323.
_Empidonax trailli_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 193.—SCLATER,
Catal. 1862, 231.—SAMUELS, 140.

SP. CHAR. Third quill longest; second scarcely shorter than fourth; first shorter than fifth, about .35 shorter than the longest. Primaries about .75 of an inch longer than secondaries. Tail even. Upper parts dark olive-green; lighter under the wings, and duller and more tinged with ash on nape and sides of the neck. Centre of the crown-feathers brown. A pale yellowish-white ring (in some specimens altogether white) round the eye. Loral feathers mixed with white. Chin and throat white; the breast and sides of throat light ash tinged with olive, its intensity varying in individuals, the former sometimes faintly tinged with olive. Sides of the breast much like the back. Middle of the belly nearly white; sides of the belly, abdomen, and the lower tail-coverts, sulphur-yellow. The quills and tail-feathers dark brown, as dark (if not more so) as these parts in _C. virens_. Two olivaceous yellow-white bands on the wing, formed by the tips of the first and second coverts, succeeded by a brown one; the edge of the first primary and of secondaries and tertials a little lighter shade of the same. The outer edge of the tail-feathers like the back; that of the lateral one rather lighter. Bill above dark brown; dull brownish beneath. Length, nearly 6.00; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.60. _Young_ with the wing-bands ochraceous instead of grayish-olive.

HAB. Eastern United States and south to Mexico. Localities: ? Isthmus of Panama (LAWR. VIII, 63); ? San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 474, breeds); ? Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 114); Yucatan (LAWR. IX, 201). All these localities, except perhaps the last, are to be questioned, as being more properly in the habitat of var. _pusillus_.

This species is most closely related to _E. minimus_, but differs in larger size and the proportions of quills. The middle of the back is the same color in both, but instead of becoming lighter and tinged with ash on the rump and upper tail-coverts, these parts very rarely differ in color from the back. The markings on the wings, instead of being dirty white, are decidedly olivaceous-grayish. The yellow of the lower parts is deeper. The tail-feathers are rather broad, acuminate, and pointed; in _minimus_ they are narrow and more rounded, while the tail itself is emarginated, instead of square, as in the present bird. The bill is larger and fuller. The legs are decidedly shorter in proportion.

HABITS. Traill’s Flycatcher was first described by Mr. Audubon as a western bird, procured from Arkansas. In his subsequent reference to this species he also speaks of it as identical with several birds obtained by Townsend near the Columbia River, but which our present knowledge as to the distribution of this species compels us to presume to have been specimens of the _Empidonax pusillus_, a closely allied species or race. That Traill’s Flycatcher does occur in Arkansas, on the other hand, is rendered probable by its abundance in other parts of the country, making this region directly within its range of migration. Dr. Woodhouse found it very common both in Texas and in the Indian Territory. Mr. Dresser found it common during the summer season near San Antonio, and to the eastward, breeding there, and building a small hanging nest. He also had its eggs sent to him from Systerdale. The stomach of the specimen he procured contained minute insects. It is mentioned by Dr. E. Coues as found in South Carolina, but whether as a migrant or as a resident is not stated. Dr. William P. Turnbull refers to it as rare near Philadelphia, and as only a spring and autumnal migrant. Mr. McIlwraith cites it as a rare summer visitant near Hamilton, Canada West. It is mentioned by Mr. Boardman as found near Calais, but has not been recorded as occurring in Nova Scotia, as far as I am aware. In Western Maine, Professor Verrill found it a regular but not a common summer visitant, arriving there the third week in May. And Mr. Brewster found it breeding in considerable abundance near Lake Umbagog in the summer of 1872.

In Massachusetts it has been found to occur very irregularly, and so far chiefly as a migrant, at least I am not aware that it has been known, except in a single instance, to breed within the limits of that State. It passes through the State about the middle of May, is rare some seasons, much more abundant for a few days in others. Near Springfield Mr. Allen regarded it as a rather rare summer visitant, arriving from the 10th to the 15th of May, and also mentioned it as probably breeding. A number have been taken in Lynn by Mr. Welch, but none have been observed to remain more than a day or two. Mr. Maynard once met with it on the 1st of June, 1869, in a swampy thicket. It was very shy, and he heard no note.

This species was observed by Mr. Paine, at Randolph, Vt., where it was found to be a not uncommon, though very retiring and shy species. It was found frequenting shady thickets, on the borders of the mountain streams, and several of its nests were procured. The bird was thoroughly identified, specimens of the parents having been sent to Professor Baird for verification. Mr. Paine was not able to obtain much insight into the manners and habits of this species, on account of its shyness. The nests were always placed in low alder-bushes, near running streams, and not more than three or four feet from the ground.

Mr. Paine has since informed me that Traill’s Flycatcher reaches Central Vermont from the 20th to the 25th of May, and is one of the last birds to arrive, coming in company with _Contopus virens_ and _C. borealis_. They all leave before the close of September. Mr. Paine has met with a great many nests of this species, but has only found one containing more than three eggs. It has a very simple song, consisting of but two notes. It has also a sort of twitter as it plays with its mate. They are usually found in thickets, for the most part near water, but not always, and are never seen in tall woods. They are occasionally seen chasing one another in the open fields.

Mr. William Brewster informs me that he found Traill’s Flycatcher moderately common and breeding at the foot of Mount Washington, in the Glen, in August, 1869, and in the township of Newry, Me., in June, 1871. Their favorite haunts were the dense alder thickets along the runs and small streams, over these dark retreats, perched on some tall dead branch, full in the rays of the noonday sun. The male sang vigorously, occasionally darting out after some insect, and returning to the same perch. His song consisted of a single dissyllabic refrain, _ke´wing_, uttered in a harsh peevish tone at an interval of about thirty seconds, varied occasionally to _ke´wink_, or _ki-winch_. At each utterance his head is thrown upwards with a sudden jerk. They were retiring, but not shy, were easily approached, and were apparently not so restless as most Flycatchers.

Near Washington, Dr. Coues found Traill’s Flycatcher a rare spring and fall visitant, a few possibly remaining to breed. They came about the last of April, and passed south the last of September. Professor Baird frequently met with them about Carlisle, Pa.