Taken in Douglas County. Photo by the Author. WESTERN KINGBIRD AT NEST.Taken in Douglas County.Photo by the Author.WESTERN KINGBIRD AT NEST.
Taken in Douglas County.Photo by the Author.WESTERN KINGBIRD AT NEST.
Here is the presiding genius of all properly conducted ranches upon the sunny side of the Cascade Mountains. Guest he is not, host rather; and before you have had time to dismount from your panting cayuse this bird bustles forth from the locust trees and hovers over you with noisy effusiveness.The boisterous greeting is one-third concern for his babies in the locust tree hard-by, one-third good fellowship, and the remainder sheer restlessness. The Western Kingbird is preeminently a social creature. And by social in this case we mean, of course, inclined to human society. For, altho the bird may start up with vociferating cries every time a member of the besieged household sets foot out of doors, one is reminded by these attentions rather of a frolicsome puppy than of a zealous guardian of the peace. Those who have been most honored by their presence year after year claim that the birds become fond of certain members of the family, and allow a familiarity in nest inspection which would be shriekingly resented in the case of strangers.
Taken in Douglas County. Photo by the Author. “BEAUTIES THEY ARE.â€Taken in Douglas County.Photo by the Author.“BEAUTIES THEY ARE.â€
Taken in Douglas County.Photo by the Author.“BEAUTIES THEY ARE.â€
One can readily guess a utilitarian consideration in favor of ranch life, viz., the greater variety and abundance of insects afforded. Of these the Kingbirds enjoy a practical monopoly by reason of their confidence in man. They are fond of flies, moths, butterflies, crickets, winged ants, and all that sort of thing. Moreover, they eat bees. But,—[Hold on, Mr. Rancher! Don’t grab that shot-gun and begin murdering Kingbirds]they eat only drones. A bee-keeper in California was curious on this pointand dissected over a hundred specimens of Western Kingbirds and Phœbes, using a microscope in the examination of stomach contents. The birds had been shot about the apiaries, where they had been seen darting upon and catching bees. Altho many of the birds were gorged, no working bees were found, only drones. This is an important distinction to bear in mind, for the reduction of drones is unqualifiedly beneficial. And when one stops to think of it, it is absurd to suppose that a bird could swallow bees, stings and all, with impunity.
But the real secret of Kingbird’s attachment for mankind is not discovered until we see his nest. It is ourstringswhich have won his heart. Whatever else the nest may or may not contain, it is sure to have string,—string in strands, string in coils, string in bunches, hanks, and tangles, drug store string of a dissipated crimson hue, white string that came around the sugar, greasy string that you had tied around your finger to remind you to feed the chickens, string of every length and size and use and hue.
Those Western Kingbirds which have not yet adopted men manage to subsist somewhat after the fashion of their eastern cousins, and build a nest of twigs, grass, weed-stalks, bark strips, and cottonwood down, placing it against the trunk, or saddling it upon a horizontal fork of willow, poplar, cottonwood, or pine, usually near water. One we found in Douglas County built in a small willow which emerged from a shallow lake, a hundred feet from shore.
But, more commonly, nests are placed about crannies and projections of farm buildings, fences, unused wagon-ricks, or upon the house itself. If no such conveniences offer, a shade tree is second choice, and the nest includes all the soft waste which the farm affords, bits of cloth, wool, cow-hair, feathers,and string.
Taken at Stratford. Photo by the Author. A DIVIDED HOUSE.Taken at Stratford.Photo by the Author.A DIVIDED HOUSE.
Taken at Stratford.Photo by the Author.A DIVIDED HOUSE.
Eggs to the number of 4 or 5 are deposited from the 1st to the 15th of June.Beauties they are too, creamy white with bold and handsome spots of chestnut in two shades, and lilac-gray. Incubation is accomplished in twelve or thirteen days, and the youngsters fly in a matter of two weeks.
These Kingbirds are model parents, devoted in brooding and courageous in defense. Noisy they are to a fault, garrulous in an unnumbered host of cajolatives and ecstatics, as well as expletives. Unlike the members ofTyrannus tyrannus, they are good neighbors even among their own kind. At the call of need neighbors rally to the common defense, but this is usually in villages where demesnes adjoin. On several occasions I have found other birds nesting peaceably in the same tree with these Kingbirds; and, as in the case ofT. tyrannus, Bullock Orioles appear to be rather particular friends.
The nests shown in the cut on preceding page are the work of one pair of birds. Embarrassed by a wealth of string and unable to decide which of two good locations to utilize, the birds built in both; the female laid eggs in both, three in one and two in the other. Moreover, she sat in both, day and day about, a bird of a divided mind.
A. O. U. No. 454.Myiarchus cinerascens(Lawrence).Description.—Adults: Above dull grayish brown changing to clear brown on crown; wings dusky brown, the middle and greater coverts tipped broadly, and the secondaries edged with pale buffy brown or dull whitish, the primaries edged, except toward tips, with cinnamon-rufous; tail darker than back, with paler grayish brown edgings, that of outermost rectrix sometimes nearly white; tail feathers, except central pair, chiefly cinnamon-rufous on inner webs; sides of head and neck gray (slightly tinged with brown) fading into much paler gray on chin, throat, and chest, changing to pale yellowish on breast and remaining underparts; yellow of underparts strengthening posteriorly, and axillars and under wing-coverts clear (primrose) yellow. Bill blackish; feet and legs black; iris brown. Length of adult male about 8.35 (212); wing 3.94 (100); tail 3.63 (92); bill .75 (19); tarsus .91 (23).Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; brownish gray above; ashy throat shading into pale yellow of remaining underparts.Nesting.—Nest: a natural cavity or deserted Flicker hole, copiously lined with wool, hair, or other soft materials.Eggs: 3-6, usually 4, buffy or creamy as to ground, but heavily marked, chiefly in curious lengthwise pattern, with streaks of purplish chestnut of several degrees of intensity. Av. size, .88 × .65 (22.4 × 16.5).Season: first week in June; one brood.General Range.—Western United States and northern Mexico, north irregularly to Washington; south in winter thru Mexico to Guatemala.Range in Washington.—Breeding near North Yakima in summer of 1903; one other record, Tacoma May 24, 1905.Authorities.—Snodgrass (R. E.), Auk. Vol. XXI, Apr. 1904, p. 229. B.Specimens.—P. C.
A. O. U. No. 454.Myiarchus cinerascens(Lawrence).
Description.—Adults: Above dull grayish brown changing to clear brown on crown; wings dusky brown, the middle and greater coverts tipped broadly, and the secondaries edged with pale buffy brown or dull whitish, the primaries edged, except toward tips, with cinnamon-rufous; tail darker than back, with paler grayish brown edgings, that of outermost rectrix sometimes nearly white; tail feathers, except central pair, chiefly cinnamon-rufous on inner webs; sides of head and neck gray (slightly tinged with brown) fading into much paler gray on chin, throat, and chest, changing to pale yellowish on breast and remaining underparts; yellow of underparts strengthening posteriorly, and axillars and under wing-coverts clear (primrose) yellow. Bill blackish; feet and legs black; iris brown. Length of adult male about 8.35 (212); wing 3.94 (100); tail 3.63 (92); bill .75 (19); tarsus .91 (23).
Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; brownish gray above; ashy throat shading into pale yellow of remaining underparts.
Nesting.—Nest: a natural cavity or deserted Flicker hole, copiously lined with wool, hair, or other soft materials.Eggs: 3-6, usually 4, buffy or creamy as to ground, but heavily marked, chiefly in curious lengthwise pattern, with streaks of purplish chestnut of several degrees of intensity. Av. size, .88 × .65 (22.4 × 16.5).Season: first week in June; one brood.
General Range.—Western United States and northern Mexico, north irregularly to Washington; south in winter thru Mexico to Guatemala.
Range in Washington.—Breeding near North Yakima in summer of 1903; one other record, Tacoma May 24, 1905.
Authorities.—Snodgrass (R. E.), Auk. Vol. XXI, Apr. 1904, p. 229. B.
Specimens.—P. C.
Flycatchers are somewhat given to wandering, or at least exploring, on their own account, regardless of traditions. A Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis), normally confined to the Gulf of Mexico, is of record for Cape Beale on Vancouver Island; and that dashing gallant, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, of Texas, has ventured as far north as Hudson Bay. The Ash-throated Flycatcher is typically a bird of the south-western United States; but it is not altogether surprising that it should have extended its northern range into the Upper Sonoran belt of eastern Washington, as it did in the season of 1903, when it was observed at North Yakima by Mr. Bowles, and, independently, by Mr. Robert E. Snodgrass, the latter collecting for Pullman College. Without precedent or excuse, however, was the appearance of a handsome pair near Tacoma, as recorded by Mr. Bowles, on the 24th day of May, 1905.
“The Ash-throated Flycatcher is quite expert upon the wing but never indulges in protracted flight if it can help it. It seems to be rather quarrelsome and intolerant in its disposition toward other birds, and will not allow any to nest in close proximity; in fact, I am inclined to believe that it not infrequently dispossesses some of the smaller Woodpeckers of their nesting sites.
“Its food consists mainly of beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, flies, moths, and occasionally of berries, especially those of a species of mistletoe.
“By the beginning of May most of the birds are mated, and nidification begins shortly afterward. The nests are usually placed in knot-holes of mesquite, ash, oak, sycamore, juniper, and cottonwood trees, as well as in cavities of old stumps, in Woodpeckers’ holes, and occasionally behind loose pieces of bark, in the manner of the Creepers.
“The Ash-throated Flycatcher nests at various heights from the ground, rarely, however, at greater distances than twenty feet. The nest varies considerably in bulk according to the size of the cavity used. Where this is large the bottom is filled up with small weed-stems, rootlets, grass, and bits of dry cow- or horse-manure, and on this foundation the nest proper is built. This consists principally of a felted mass of hair and fur from different animals, and occasionally of exuviæ of snakes and small lizards; but these materials are not nearly as generally used as in the nests of our eastern Crested Flycatcher—in fact, it is the exception and not the rule to find such remains in their nests†(Bendire).
A. O. U. No. 457.Sayornis saya(Bonap.).Synonyms.—Say’s Phoebe. Western Phoebe.Description.—Adults: General color drab (grayish brown to dark hair-brown), darker on pileum and auriculars, lighter on throat, shading thru upper tail-coverts to black; tail brownish black; wings fuscous, the coverts and exposed webs of tertials edged with lighter grayish brown; underparts below breast cinnamon-buff; axillars and lining of wings light buff or cream-buff. Bill and feet black; iris brown.Young birdsare more extensively fulvous, and are marked by two cinnamomeous bands on wings (formed by tips of middle and greater coverts). Length of adult male 7.50 (190.5); wing 4.14 (105); tail 3.23 (82); bill .62 (15.7); tarsus .79 (20). Female averages smaller.Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; drab coloring; cinnamon-colored belly; melancholy notes; frequents barns and outbuildings or cliffs.Nesting.—Nest: composed of dried grasses, moss, plant-fibers, woolly materials of all sorts, and hair; placed on ledges, under eaves of outbuildings, under bridges, or on cliffs.Eggs: 3-6, usually 5, dull white, occasionally sparsely dotted. Av. size, .77 × .59 (19.6 × 15).Season: April 20-May 10, June 1-15; two broods. Yakima County April 24, 1900, 5 young about five days old (eggs fresh about April 7th).General Range.—Western North America north to the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Yukon Territory, etc., east to Manitoba, western Wyoming, western Kansas, etc., breeding thruout range, south to Arizona and northern Lower California; southward in winter over northern and central Mexico.Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades (chiefly in Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition life-zones), rare or casual west of the mountains.Migrations.—Spring: c. March 15; Okanogan County March 17, 1896; Ahtanum (Yakima Co.) Feb. 20, 1900.Authorities.—Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 277. (T). D¹. Kb. D². Ss¹. Ss². J. B.Specimens.—P¹. Prov. C.
A. O. U. No. 457.Sayornis saya(Bonap.).
Synonyms.—Say’s Phoebe. Western Phoebe.
Description.—Adults: General color drab (grayish brown to dark hair-brown), darker on pileum and auriculars, lighter on throat, shading thru upper tail-coverts to black; tail brownish black; wings fuscous, the coverts and exposed webs of tertials edged with lighter grayish brown; underparts below breast cinnamon-buff; axillars and lining of wings light buff or cream-buff. Bill and feet black; iris brown.Young birdsare more extensively fulvous, and are marked by two cinnamomeous bands on wings (formed by tips of middle and greater coverts). Length of adult male 7.50 (190.5); wing 4.14 (105); tail 3.23 (82); bill .62 (15.7); tarsus .79 (20). Female averages smaller.
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; drab coloring; cinnamon-colored belly; melancholy notes; frequents barns and outbuildings or cliffs.
Nesting.—Nest: composed of dried grasses, moss, plant-fibers, woolly materials of all sorts, and hair; placed on ledges, under eaves of outbuildings, under bridges, or on cliffs.Eggs: 3-6, usually 5, dull white, occasionally sparsely dotted. Av. size, .77 × .59 (19.6 × 15).Season: April 20-May 10, June 1-15; two broods. Yakima County April 24, 1900, 5 young about five days old (eggs fresh about April 7th).
General Range.—Western North America north to the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Yukon Territory, etc., east to Manitoba, western Wyoming, western Kansas, etc., breeding thruout range, south to Arizona and northern Lower California; southward in winter over northern and central Mexico.
Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades (chiefly in Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition life-zones), rare or casual west of the mountains.
Migrations.—Spring: c. March 15; Okanogan County March 17, 1896; Ahtanum (Yakima Co.) Feb. 20, 1900.
Authorities.—Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 277. (T). D¹. Kb. D². Ss¹. Ss². J. B.
Specimens.—P¹. Prov. C.
A gentle melancholy possesses the Pewee. The memory of that older Eden once blotted by the ruthless ice-sheet, still haunts the chambers of the atavistic soul and she goes mourning all her days. Or she is like a Peri barred from Paradise, and no proffer of mortal joys can make amends for the immortal loss ever before her eyes.Kuteéw, kuteéw!
In keeping with her ascetic nature the Pewee haunts solitary places, bleak hillsides swept by March gales, lava cliffs with their solemn, silent bastions. Or, since misery loves company, she ventures upon some waterlesstownsite and voices in unexpectant cadences the universal yearning for green things and cessation of wind.
A part of the drear impression made by this bird is occasioned by the time of year when it puts in an appearance, March at the latest, and, once at least, as early as February 20th (in Yakima County). Flies are an uncertain crop at this season, and it is doubtless rather from a desire for shelter than from inclination to society, that the species has so largely of late years resorted to stables and outbuildings. Twenty years ago Say’s Pewee was unknown as a tenant of buildings in Yakima County. Now, there are few well-established farms in that part of the State which do not boast a pair somewhere about the premises; while hop-houses are recognized as providing just that degree of isolation which the bird really prefers.
Say’s Pewee, for all its depressed spirits, is an active bird, and makes frequent sallies at passing insects. These constitute its exclusive diet save in early spring when, under the spell of adverse weather, dried berries are sought. Butterflies and moths are favorite food, but grasshoppers and beetles are captured as well; and the bird, in common with certain other flycatchers, has the power of ejecting indigestible elytra and leg-sheathings in the form of pellets.
Photo by the Author. SAY’S PEWEE.Photo by the Author.SAY’S PEWEE.
Photo by the Author.SAY’S PEWEE.
The males arrive in spring some days in advance of the females. Courtship is animated in spite of the melancholy proclivities of the bird; and the male achieves a sort of song by repeatingku-tew’s rapidly, on fluttering wing. Besides this, in moments of excitement, both birds cryLook at ’ere, with great distinctness.
Eggs are laid by the 10th of April and usually at least two broods are raised, in this latitude. In the natural state these Pewees nest about cliffs, at moderate heights, and in shallow caves. In selecting a site, they show a decided preference for a cliff which enjoys the protection of nesting Prairie Falcons. A stout bracket of twigs, weed-fibers, lichens, and other soft substances, is constructed, and a luxurious lining of wool and hair is supplied; but the whole must be partially shielded by some projecting tooth or facet of stone, or artificial construction.
The author in taking his first (and only) set of Say Pewee eggs selected a nest on the south wall of Brook Lake, reached only by canoe. The floor of anold Cliff Swallow’s nest, placed in a shady niche at a height of some twelve feet, formed the support of the Pewee’s accumulations. The cliff was perfectly straight, but by dint of half an hour’s work piling lava blocks and securing footholds, with the aid of a double-bladed paddle he succeeded in reaching the nest. Requiring the use of both hands in descent, he placed the four fresh eggs in his hat, and the hat in his teeth, reaching the ground safely and depositing the hat carefully. Tired out by the exertion he flung himself down upon the narrow strip of shore and rested. Then noting the rising wind, he sprang up, seized the coat and hat and—Oh! Did something drop?!! Yes, gentle reader, the eggs were in it,—but only one was smashed. Only one! As perfect the arch without its keystone as a “set†of eggs with the guilty consciousness of one missing!
A. O. U. No. 459.Nuttallornis borealis(Swains.)Description.—Adult: Upperparts brownish slate with a just perceptible tinge of olivaceous on back; top of head a deeper shade, and without olivaceous; wings and tail dusky-blackish, the former with some brownish gray edging only on tertials; flank-tufts of fluffy, yellowish or white feathers, sometimes spreading across rump and in marked contrast to it, but usually concealed by wings; throat, belly and crissum, and sometimes middle line of breast, white or yellowish white; heavily shaded on sides and sometimes across breast with brownish gray or olive-brown,—the feathers with darker shaft-streaks; bill black above, pale yellow below; feet black.Immature: Similar to adult, but coloration a little brighter; wing-coverts fulvous or buffy. Length 7.00-8.00 (177.8-203.2); wing 4.16 (105.7); tail 2.64 (67.1); bill from nostril .53 (13.5); tarsus .59 (15).Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; heavy shaded sides; bill yellow below;tew-tewnote; keeps largely to summits of fir trees.Nesting.—Nest: a shallow cup of twigs, bark-strips, etc., lined with coarse moss and rootlets; saddled upon horizontal limb of coniferous trees, often at great heights.Eggs: 3 or 4, creamy-white or pale buff, spotted distinctly with chestnut and rufous, and obscurely with purplish and lavender, chiefly in ring about larger end. Av. size, .85 × .63 (21.6 × 16).Season: June 1-15; one brood.General Range.—North America, breeding from the northern and the higher mountainous parts of the United States northward to Hudson Bay and Alaska. Accidental in Greenland. In winter south to Central America, Colombia and northern Peru.Range in Washington.—Summer resident in coniferous timber from sea level to limit of trees.Migrations.—Spring: c. May 15.Authorities.—Contopus borealis, Baird,Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 189. Ibid C&S. 169. C&S. D¹. Kb. Ra. B. E.Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.
A. O. U. No. 459.Nuttallornis borealis(Swains.)
Description.—Adult: Upperparts brownish slate with a just perceptible tinge of olivaceous on back; top of head a deeper shade, and without olivaceous; wings and tail dusky-blackish, the former with some brownish gray edging only on tertials; flank-tufts of fluffy, yellowish or white feathers, sometimes spreading across rump and in marked contrast to it, but usually concealed by wings; throat, belly and crissum, and sometimes middle line of breast, white or yellowish white; heavily shaded on sides and sometimes across breast with brownish gray or olive-brown,—the feathers with darker shaft-streaks; bill black above, pale yellow below; feet black.Immature: Similar to adult, but coloration a little brighter; wing-coverts fulvous or buffy. Length 7.00-8.00 (177.8-203.2); wing 4.16 (105.7); tail 2.64 (67.1); bill from nostril .53 (13.5); tarsus .59 (15).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; heavy shaded sides; bill yellow below;tew-tewnote; keeps largely to summits of fir trees.
Nesting.—Nest: a shallow cup of twigs, bark-strips, etc., lined with coarse moss and rootlets; saddled upon horizontal limb of coniferous trees, often at great heights.Eggs: 3 or 4, creamy-white or pale buff, spotted distinctly with chestnut and rufous, and obscurely with purplish and lavender, chiefly in ring about larger end. Av. size, .85 × .63 (21.6 × 16).Season: June 1-15; one brood.
General Range.—North America, breeding from the northern and the higher mountainous parts of the United States northward to Hudson Bay and Alaska. Accidental in Greenland. In winter south to Central America, Colombia and northern Peru.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident in coniferous timber from sea level to limit of trees.
Migrations.—Spring: c. May 15.
Authorities.—Contopus borealis, Baird,Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 189. Ibid C&S. 169. C&S. D¹. Kb. Ra. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.
Flycatchers belong to the sub-orderClamatores, that is to say, Shouters. Some few of our American Flycatchers lisp and sigh rather than cry aloud, but of those which shout the Olive-sided Flycatcher is easily dean. And it is as an elocutionist only that most of us know this bird, even tho our opportunities may have stretched along for decades. On a morning in mid May, as surely as the season comes around, one hears a strong insistent voice shouting, “See here!†There is not much to see, save a dun-colored bird seated at an impossible height on the summit of a tall fir tree. Its posture is that easy half-slouch which with the Flycatchers betokens instant readiness for action. While we are ogling, the bird launches from his post, seizes an insect some thirty feet distant, and is back again before we have recovered from surprise. “See here!†the bird repeats, but its accent is unchanged and there is really nothing more to see.
Taken in Chelan County. Photo by W. Leon Dawson. CASCADE PASS AND THE VALLEY OF THE STEHEKIN. A CHARACTERISTIC HAUNT OF THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.Taken in Chelan County.Photo by W. Leon Dawson.CASCADE PASS AND THE VALLEY OF THE STEHEKIN.A CHARACTERISTIC HAUNT OF THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.
Taken in Chelan County.Photo by W. Leon Dawson.CASCADE PASS AND THE VALLEY OF THE STEHEKIN.A CHARACTERISTIC HAUNT OF THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.
An intimate acquaintance with the Olive-sided Flycatcher is not easily attained; but its characteristic cry carries to a distance of half a mile ormore, and is, fortunately, quite unforgettable. Both in accent and energy it seems to set the pace for several of the lesser Tyrants. Of course, like many another of the voices of Nature, its interpretation depends a good deal upon the mood of the listener. Heard on a dull day at sea-level it may sound dismal enough, but heard in the sharp air of the mountains it becomes an exultant note. There are miners in the heart of the Cascades who regard the brisk evening greeting of this Flycatcher as one of the compensations of solitude. “Three cheers!†the bird seems to say to one who returns from the silent bowels of the earth and grasps again the facts of outer life.
Borealisis a bird of the tree-tops and nearer you cannot come, save in nesting season, when caution is thrown to the winds and a study in morbid psychology is all too easy. The birds place a rustic saucer of interwoven black rootlets and mosses on the upper side of a horizontal branch, whether of hemlock, fir, or cedar, and, as often as otherwise, at moderate heights. They are very uneasy at the presence of strangers and flit about with a restless, tittering, cry,tew-tew, tew-tew, ortew-tew-tew, a sound which strangely excites the blood of the oölogist. Once the nesting tree is made out and the ascent begun, the birds are beside themselves with rage, and dash at the intruder with angry cries, which really stimulate endeavor where they are intended to discourage it.
How fatal is the beauty of an egg-shell! There be those of us who have drunk so oft of this subtle potion that the hand goes out instinctively to grasp the proffered cup. Besides, the product of an Olive-side’s skill is of a very special kind—a rich cream-colored oval, warmed by a hint of living flesh and splotched with saucy chestnut. It is irresistible! But, boys, don’t do it! We are old topers ourselves; public sentiment is against us, and our days are numbered. It is right that it should be so. Besides that, and speaking in all seriousness now, while it is desirable and necessary that a few representative collections of natural history should be built upfor the public use, it does not follow that the public good is secured by the accumulation of endless private hordes of bird’s-eggs—whose logical end, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, is the scrap-heap. You are probably one of the ninety-nine. Think twice before you start a collection and then—don’t!
A. O. U. No. 462.Myiochanes richardsonii(Swains.).Synonyms.—Short-legged Pewee. Richardson’s Pewee.Description.—Adults: Above deep grayish brown or grayish olive-brown; a lighter shade of same continued around sides and across breast, lightening on chin and throat, on remaining underparts becoming white or yellowish white; middle and greater coverts tipped with grayish; outer webs of tertials edged with grayish white. Bill black above, dusky (never light) below.Young birdshave the middle and greater coverts tipped with buffy (forming two not inconspicuous bars), and some buffy edging on rump and upper tail-coverts. This species bears a curiously close resemblance toM. virensof the East, insomuch that it is not always possible to separate specimens in the cabinet; yet the two are perfectly distinct in note and habit and are not suspected of intergradation. Length of adult males 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.43 (87); tail 2.60 (66); bill .51 (13); tarsus .53 (13.4). Females a little smaller.Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; dark coloration (appearing blackish),—but much darker and a little larger than any of theEmpidonaces.Meezeernote of animated melancholy distinctive.Nesting.—Nest: a shallow cup of compacted moss, grasses, rootlets, etc., lined with fine grasses and wool or hair, and decorated externally, or not, with lichens; saddled midway or in fork of horizontal limb, chiefly at moderate heights.Eggs: usually 3, sometimes 4, creamy white, marked by largish spots of distinct and obscure rufous brown or umber, chiefly in open wreath about larger end. Av. size, .71 × .55 (18 × 14).Season: June 10-July 10; one brood.General Range.—Western North America; breeding north to Alaska and Northwest Territory, east to Manitoba and western portion of Great Plains to Texas, south to northern Mexico; south in winter over Mexico and Central America to Equador, Peru, and Bolivia.Range in Washington.—Common summer resident and migrant east of the Cascades, chiefly in coniferous forests, occasionally in open sage; less common west of the mountains.Migrations.—Spring: c. May 15; Tacoma May 5, 1907; Yakima May 14, 1895, May 15, 1900; Newport May 20, 1906; Conconnully May 27, 1896.Fall: c. Sept. 1.Authorities.—[“Western Wood Pewee,†Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.] ?Muscicapa richardsonii, Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, pl. 434. [Contopus richardsonii, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 189, 190. “Columbia River O. T. J. K. Townsend.â€]Contopus richardsonii(?)Belding, L. B. P. D. 1890, p. 99 (Walla Walla, Dr. J. W. Williams). L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². J. B. E.Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.
A. O. U. No. 462.Myiochanes richardsonii(Swains.).
Synonyms.—Short-legged Pewee. Richardson’s Pewee.
Description.—Adults: Above deep grayish brown or grayish olive-brown; a lighter shade of same continued around sides and across breast, lightening on chin and throat, on remaining underparts becoming white or yellowish white; middle and greater coverts tipped with grayish; outer webs of tertials edged with grayish white. Bill black above, dusky (never light) below.Young birdshave the middle and greater coverts tipped with buffy (forming two not inconspicuous bars), and some buffy edging on rump and upper tail-coverts. This species bears a curiously close resemblance toM. virensof the East, insomuch that it is not always possible to separate specimens in the cabinet; yet the two are perfectly distinct in note and habit and are not suspected of intergradation. Length of adult males 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.43 (87); tail 2.60 (66); bill .51 (13); tarsus .53 (13.4). Females a little smaller.
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; dark coloration (appearing blackish),—but much darker and a little larger than any of theEmpidonaces.Meezeernote of animated melancholy distinctive.
Nesting.—Nest: a shallow cup of compacted moss, grasses, rootlets, etc., lined with fine grasses and wool or hair, and decorated externally, or not, with lichens; saddled midway or in fork of horizontal limb, chiefly at moderate heights.Eggs: usually 3, sometimes 4, creamy white, marked by largish spots of distinct and obscure rufous brown or umber, chiefly in open wreath about larger end. Av. size, .71 × .55 (18 × 14).Season: June 10-July 10; one brood.
General Range.—Western North America; breeding north to Alaska and Northwest Territory, east to Manitoba and western portion of Great Plains to Texas, south to northern Mexico; south in winter over Mexico and Central America to Equador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Range in Washington.—Common summer resident and migrant east of the Cascades, chiefly in coniferous forests, occasionally in open sage; less common west of the mountains.
Migrations.—Spring: c. May 15; Tacoma May 5, 1907; Yakima May 14, 1895, May 15, 1900; Newport May 20, 1906; Conconnully May 27, 1896.Fall: c. Sept. 1.
Authorities.—[“Western Wood Pewee,†Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.] ?Muscicapa richardsonii, Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, pl. 434. [Contopus richardsonii, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 189, 190. “Columbia River O. T. J. K. Townsend.â€]Contopus richardsonii(?)Belding, L. B. P. D. 1890, p. 99 (Walla Walla, Dr. J. W. Williams). L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². J. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.
The prey of gentle melancholy and the heir to gloom is this Pewee of the West. The day, indeed, is garish. The leaves of the fragrant cottonwoods glance and shimmer under the ardent sun; while the wavelets of the lake, tired of their morning romp, are sighing sleepily in the root-laced chambers of the overhanging shore. The vision of the distant hills is blurred by heat pulsations; the song of birds has ceased and the very caddis-flies are taking refuge from the glare. The sun is dominant and all Nature yields drowsy allegiance to his sway. All but Pewee. He avoids the sun, indeed, but from a sheltered perch he lifts a voice of protest, “Dear Me!â€
It seems uncalled-for. The bird does not appear to be unhappy. Flycatching is good, and the Pewee cocks his head quite cheerfully as he returns to his perch after a successful foray. But, true to some hidden impulse, as you gaze upon him, he swells with approaching effort, his mandibles part, and he utters that doleful, appointed sound,dear me. His utterance has all the precision and finality of an assigned part in an orchestra. It is as if we were watching a single player in a symphony of Nature whose other strains were too subtle for our ears. The player seems inattentive to the music, he eyes the ceiling languidly, he notes a flashing diamond in the second box, he picks a flawed string absently, but at a moment he seizes the bow, gives the cello a vicious double scrape,dear me, and his task is done for that time.
WESTERN WOOD PEWEE.WESTERN WOOD PEWEE.
WESTERN WOOD PEWEE.
The Western Wood Pewee is a late migrant, reaching the middle of the State about the 15th of May, and the northern border from five to ten days later. It is found wherever there is timber, but is partial to half-open situations, and is much more in evidence East than West. It is especially fond of pine groves and rough brushy hillsides near water. Cannon Hill, inSpokane, is a typical resort and a mere tyro can see three or four nests there on a June day.
The Pewee takes the public quite into her confidence in nest building. Not only does she build in the open, without a vestige of leafy cover, but when she is fully freighted with nesting material, she flies straight to the nest and proceeds to arrange it with perfect nonchalance. If a nest with eggs is discovered in the bird’s absence, she is quite likely to return and settle to her eggs without a troubled thought.
The nest is a moderately deep, well-made cup of hemp, fine bark-strips, grasses, and similar soft substances; and it is usually saddled upon a horizontal limb of pine, larch, maple, alder, oak, aspen, cottonwood, etc. But, occasionally, the nest is set in an upright crotch of a willow or some dead sapling. Nests having such support are naturally deeper than saddled nests, but the characteristic feature of both sorts is the choice of a site, quite removed from the protection of leaves. The grayish tone of the bark in the host tree is always accurately matched in the choice of nesting materials and, if the result can be secured in no other way, the exterior of the nest is elaborately draped with cobwebs.
All eggs appear beautiful to the seasoned oölogist, but few surpass in dainty elegance the three creamy ovals of the Pewee, with their spotting of quaint old browns and subdued lavenders. They are genuine antiques, and the connoisseur must pause to enjoy them even tho he honors the prior rights of Mr. and Mrs.M. Richardsonii.
A. O. U. No. 464.Empidonax difficilisBaird.Synonym.—Western Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.Description.—Adults: Above and on sides of breast olive or olive-green; a lighter shade of same color continued across breast; remaining underparts yellow (between sulphur and primrose), sordid on throat and sides, clearest on abdomen; bend of wing sulphur-yellow; a faint yellowish eye-ring; axillaries and lining of wings paler yellow; middle coverts and tips of greater coverts, continuous with edging of exposed secondaries, yellowish gray, forming two more or less conspicuous wing-bars. Bill brownish black above, yellow below; feet and legs brownish dusky; iris brown.Young birdsare browner above and paler below; wing-bars cinnamon-buffy, (and not certainly distinguishable in color from young ofE. traillii). Length 5.50-6.00 (139.7-152.4); wing 2.64 (67); tail 2.24 (57); bill .47 (12); tarsus.67 (17).Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; characterized by pervading yellowness;—reallythe easiest, because the most common of this difficult group; note a softpiswit; a woodland recluse. Adults always more yellow thanE. traillii, from which it is not otherwise certainly distinguishable afield (save by note).Nesting.—Nest: placed anywhere in forest or about shaded cliffs, chiefly at lower levels; usually well constructed of soft green moss, fine grasses, fir needles and hemp.Eggs: 3 or 4, dull creamy white, sparingly spotted and dotted or blotched with cinnamon and pinkish brown, chiefly about larger end. Av. size .66 × .52 (16.8 × 13.2).Season: May 1-July 1; one or two broods.General Range.—Western North America from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, breeding north to Sitka and south chiefly in the mountains to northern Lower California and northern Mexico; south in winter into Mexico.Range in Washington.—Common summer resident in timbered sections thruout the State.Migrations.—Spring: Seattle-Tacoma, April 15.Fall: c. Sept. 1.Authorities.—Empidonax difficilis,Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 193 “Catal. No. 5920.†L. D¹. Ra. Ss¹. Ss². B. E.Specimens.—(U. of W.) P. Prov. B. BN. E.
A. O. U. No. 464.Empidonax difficilisBaird.
Synonym.—Western Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.
Description.—Adults: Above and on sides of breast olive or olive-green; a lighter shade of same color continued across breast; remaining underparts yellow (between sulphur and primrose), sordid on throat and sides, clearest on abdomen; bend of wing sulphur-yellow; a faint yellowish eye-ring; axillaries and lining of wings paler yellow; middle coverts and tips of greater coverts, continuous with edging of exposed secondaries, yellowish gray, forming two more or less conspicuous wing-bars. Bill brownish black above, yellow below; feet and legs brownish dusky; iris brown.Young birdsare browner above and paler below; wing-bars cinnamon-buffy, (and not certainly distinguishable in color from young ofE. traillii). Length 5.50-6.00 (139.7-152.4); wing 2.64 (67); tail 2.24 (57); bill .47 (12); tarsus.67 (17).
Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; characterized by pervading yellowness;—reallythe easiest, because the most common of this difficult group; note a softpiswit; a woodland recluse. Adults always more yellow thanE. traillii, from which it is not otherwise certainly distinguishable afield (save by note).
Nesting.—Nest: placed anywhere in forest or about shaded cliffs, chiefly at lower levels; usually well constructed of soft green moss, fine grasses, fir needles and hemp.Eggs: 3 or 4, dull creamy white, sparingly spotted and dotted or blotched with cinnamon and pinkish brown, chiefly about larger end. Av. size .66 × .52 (16.8 × 13.2).Season: May 1-July 1; one or two broods.
General Range.—Western North America from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, breeding north to Sitka and south chiefly in the mountains to northern Lower California and northern Mexico; south in winter into Mexico.
Range in Washington.—Common summer resident in timbered sections thruout the State.
Migrations.—Spring: Seattle-Tacoma, April 15.Fall: c. Sept. 1.
Authorities.—Empidonax difficilis,Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 193 “Catal. No. 5920.†L. D¹. Ra. Ss¹. Ss². B. E.
Specimens.—(U. of W.) P. Prov. B. BN. E.
Please observe the scientific name,difficilis, that is, difficult. There is a delicate irony about the use of this term as a distinctive appellation foroneof the “gnat kings,†for, surely, the plural,Empidonaces difficiles, would comprehend them all. There is something, indeed, to be learned from the notes of these little Flycatchers, and the first year the author studied them seriously he supposed he had a sure clew to their specific unraveling. But that was in the freshmen year of Empidonaxology. In coming up for “final exams.†he confesses to knowing somewhat less about them.
The bird, also, is well called Western; for however difficult the genus, we know at least thatdifficilis(speaking seriously now) is the commonest species; that it appears under more varied conditions and enjoys a more general distribution than any other species of Empidonax in the West. The bird is, also, the first to arrive in the spring, returning to the latitude of Seattle about the middle of April, or when the yellow-green racemes of the Large-leafed Maple (Acer macrophyllum) are first shaken out to the breeze. The little fay keeps well up in the trees, occupying central positions rather than exposed outposts; and so perfectly do his colors blend in with the tender hues of the new foliage that we hear him twenty times to once we see him.
The notes are little explosive sibilants fenced in by initial and final “p†or “t†sounds. If one prints them they are not at all to be vocalized, but only whispered or hissed,pssseet, pssseeit, psswit, orpiswit. Other variations aresé a-wit, slowly and listlessly;cleotip, briskly;kushchtlip, a fairy sneeze in Russian. One becomes familiar with these tiny cachinations, and announces the Western Flycatcher unseen with some degree of confidence. But the way is beset with dangers and surprises. Once, in June, at a point on Lake Chelan,after an hour’s discriminating study, I shot from practically the same stand, three birds which saidswit,piswit, andpisoorespectively, and picked up a Wright’s Flycatcher (E. wrightii), a Western Flycatcher (E. difficilis) and a Trail Flycatcher (E. traillii). The same woods contained Hammond’s Flycatcher (E. hammondi), while the Western Wood Pewee (Myiochanes richardsonii), which has the same general economy, was abundant also.Difficilis? Etiam!
The Western Flycatcher inhabits the deepest woods and occurs thruout the State wherever sufficient shade is offered. It is rather partial to well-watered valleys, and will follow these well up into the mountains, but does not occur on the mountain-sides proper at any considerable altitude. Nor does it appear to visit, save during migrations, those green oases in the dry country which are the delight ofE. traillii. It mingles withtrailliiin summer along the banks of streams and at the edges of swamps; withhammondiin the more open woods and along the lower hillsides; withwrightiialong the margin of mountain lakes and streams; but in the forests proper it is easily dominant.
The Western Flycatcher is a catholic nester. It builds almost always a substantial cup of twigs, grasses, and hemp, lined with grass, hair or feathers. The outside is usually plentifully bedecked with moss, or else the whole structure is chiefly composed of this substance—not, however, unless the color-tone of the immediate surroundings will permit of it. In position it varies without limit. We find nests sunk like a Solitaire’s in a mossy bank, or set in a niche of a rocky cliff, on logs, stumps, or beams, in a clump of ferns, or securely lodged in a fir tree at a height of forty feet. One I found in a swamp was saddled on the stem of a slanting vine maple without a vestige of cover other than that afforded by the general gloom.
Taken near Tacoma. Photo by J. H. Bowles. NEST OF WESTERN FLYCATCHER.Taken near Tacoma.Photo by J. H. Bowles.NEST OF WESTERN FLYCATCHER.
Taken near Tacoma.Photo by J. H. Bowles.NEST OF WESTERN FLYCATCHER.
Eggs to the number of three or four, rarely five, are deposited late in May or early in June, and only one brood is raised in a season. The eggs are of a dull creamy white color, spotted and blotched rather lightly with cinnamon brown and pinkish buff, easily distinguishable from all others save those of the Traill Flycatcher.
These Flycatchers in nesting time are very confiding and very devoted parents. One may sometimes touch the sitting bird, and, when off, she flutters about very close to the intruder, sneezing violently and snipping her mandibles like fairy scissors.
A. O. U. No. 466.Empidonax traillii(Aud.)Synonyms.—Little Flycatcher. Little Western Flycatcher.Description.—Plumage of upperparts very similar to that ofE. difficilis, but olive inclining to brownish; wing-bars usually paler, more whitish; outer web of outer rectrix pale grayish white; sides of head and neck decidedly browner; underparts everywhere paler, nearly white on throat; breast sordid, scarcely olivaceous; lower abdomen and crissum pale primrose yellow; bend of wing yellow flecked with dusky; a faint eye-ring pale olive-gray. Bill black above, light brownish below (not so light in life asE. difficilis).Young: much as in preceding species, but averaging browner; more yellow below than adult. Length 5.50-6.00 (139.7-152.4); wing 2.76 (70); tail 2.25 (57); bill .49 (12.5); tarsus .65 (16.5).Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; olivaceous coloration; not so yellow below as preceding species; brush-haunting habits; note a smartswit’choo.Nesting.—Nest: a rather bulky but neatly-turned cup of plant-fibres, bark-strips, grass, etc., carefully lined with fine grasses; placed three to ten feet up, in crotch of bush or sapling of lowland thicket or swamp.Eggs: 3 or 4, not certainly distinguishable from those of preceding species. Av. size, .70 × .54 (17.8 × 13.7).Season: June; one brood.General Range.—Western North America, breeding north to southern Alaska (Dyea), “east, northerly, to western portion of Great Plains, much farther southerly, breeding in Iowa(?), Missouri, southern Illinois, and probably elsewhere in central Mississippi Valleyâ€; south in winter over Mexico to Colombia, etc.Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out—summer resident in thickets at lower levels thruout(?) the State.Authorities.—Empidonax pusillusCabanis,Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 195. Ibid, C&S. 170. (T). C&S. L¹. D¹. Ra. B. E.Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B. E.
A. O. U. No. 466.Empidonax traillii(Aud.)
Synonyms.—Little Flycatcher. Little Western Flycatcher.
Description.—Plumage of upperparts very similar to that ofE. difficilis, but olive inclining to brownish; wing-bars usually paler, more whitish; outer web of outer rectrix pale grayish white; sides of head and neck decidedly browner; underparts everywhere paler, nearly white on throat; breast sordid, scarcely olivaceous; lower abdomen and crissum pale primrose yellow; bend of wing yellow flecked with dusky; a faint eye-ring pale olive-gray. Bill black above, light brownish below (not so light in life asE. difficilis).Young: much as in preceding species, but averaging browner; more yellow below than adult. Length 5.50-6.00 (139.7-152.4); wing 2.76 (70); tail 2.25 (57); bill .49 (12.5); tarsus .65 (16.5).
Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; olivaceous coloration; not so yellow below as preceding species; brush-haunting habits; note a smartswit’choo.
Nesting.—Nest: a rather bulky but neatly-turned cup of plant-fibres, bark-strips, grass, etc., carefully lined with fine grasses; placed three to ten feet up, in crotch of bush or sapling of lowland thicket or swamp.Eggs: 3 or 4, not certainly distinguishable from those of preceding species. Av. size, .70 × .54 (17.8 × 13.7).Season: June; one brood.
General Range.—Western North America, breeding north to southern Alaska (Dyea), “east, northerly, to western portion of Great Plains, much farther southerly, breeding in Iowa(?), Missouri, southern Illinois, and probably elsewhere in central Mississippi Valleyâ€; south in winter over Mexico to Colombia, etc.
Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out—summer resident in thickets at lower levels thruout(?) the State.
Authorities.—Empidonax pusillusCabanis,Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 195. Ibid, C&S. 170. (T). C&S. L¹. D¹. Ra. B. E.
Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B. E.
Discrimination is the constant effort of those who would study the Empidonaces, the Little Flycatchers. Comparing colors, Traill’s gives an impression of brownness, where the Western is yellowish green, Hammond’s blackish, and Wright’s grayish dusky. These distinctions are not glaring, butthey obtain roughly afield, in a group where every floating mote of difference is gladly welcomed. The Traill Flycatcher, moreover, is a lover of the half-open situations, bushy rather than timbered, of clearings, low thickets, and river banks. Unlike its congeners, it will follow a stream out upon a desert; and a spring, which gladdens a few hundred yards of willows andcratægiin some nook of the bunch-grass hills, is sure to number among its summer boarders at least one pair of Traill Flycatchers. This partiality for water-courses does not, however, prevent its frequenting dry hillsides in western Washington and the borders of mountain meadows in the Cascades.
Traill’s Flycatcher is a tardy migrant, for it arrives not earlier than the 20th of May, and frequently not before June 1st. In 1899, the bird did not appear at Ahtanum, in Yakima County, until the 14th of June; and it became common immediately thereafter. This bird is restless, energetic, and pugnacious to a fault. It posts on conspicuous places, the topmost twig of a syringa bush, a willow, or an aspen, making frequent outcries, if the mood is on, and darting nimbly after passing insects. During the nesting season it pounces on passing birds of whatever size and drives them out of bounds. It is not always so hardy in the presence of man, and if pressed too closely will whisk out of sight for good and all.
The notes of the Little Flycatcher, as it used to be called, are various and not always distinctive. Particularly, there is one style which cannot be distinguished from the commonest note of the Hammond Flycatcher,switchoo, sweéchew, or unblushingly,sweébew, sweébew, ssweet. Other notes, delivered sometimes singly and sometimes in groups, arepisoó;swit’oo, sweet, swit’oo;Swee, kutip, kutip;Hwitorhooit, softly.
Nesting begins late in June and fresh eggs may be expected about the 4th of July. Nests are placed characteristically in upright forks of willows, alder-berry bushes, roses, etc. They are usually compact and artistic structures of dried grasses, hemp (the inner bark of dead willows) and plant-down, lined with fine grasses, horse-hair, feathers and other soft substances. Not infrequently the nests are placed over water; and low elevations of, say, two or three feet from the ground appear to prevail westerly. A Yakima County nest, taken July 10th, containing two eggs, was half saddled upon, half sunk into the twigs of a horizontal willow branch one and a half feet above running water, and had to be reached by wading.
Incubation lasts twelve days, and the babies require as much more time to get a-wing. But by September 1st, tickets are bought, grips are packed—or, no! think of being able to travel without luggage—goodbyes are said; and it’s “Heighho! for Mexico!â€
A. O. U. No. 468.Empidonax hammondi(Xantus).Synonym.—Dirty Little Flycatcher.Description.—Adult: Above olive-gray inclining to ashy on foreparts,—color continued on sides, throat and breast well down, only slightly paler than back; remaining underparts yellowish in various degrees, or sometimes scarcely tinged with yellow[62]; pattern and color of wing much as in preceding species; outermost rectrix edged with whitish on outer web; bill comparatively small and narrow, black above, dusky or blackish below.Young birdspresent a minimum of yellow below and their wing-markings are buffy instead of whitish. Length about 5.50 (139.7); wing 2.80 (71); tail 2.29 (58); bill .41 (10.5); breadth of bill at nostril .19 (4.83); tarsus .63 (16). Females average a little smaller.Recognition Marks.—Warbler size, the smallest of the four WashingtonEmpidonaces, and possibly the most difficult (where all are vexing); olive-gray of plumage gives impression of blackish at distance; the most sordid below of the Protean quartette; nests high in coniferous trees; eggswhite.Nesting.—Nest: of fir-twigs, grasses and moss, lined with fine grasses, vegetable down and hair; placed on horizontal limb of fir tree at considerable heights.Eggs: 4, pale creamy white, unmarked. Av. size, .65 × .51 (16.5 × 12.7).Season: June; one brood.General Range.—Western North America north to southeastern Alaska, the valley of the Upper Yukon and Athabasca, breeding south, chiefly in the mountains, to Colorado and California; south in winter thru Mexico to the highlands of Guatemala.Range in Washington.—Summer resident in coniferous timber on both sides of the Cascades, irregularly abundant and local in distribution.Authorities.—[“Hammond’s fly-catcher,†Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.]Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 315ff. D¹. Ra. D². B. E(H).Specimens.—C.
A. O. U. No. 468.Empidonax hammondi(Xantus).
Synonym.—Dirty Little Flycatcher.
Description.—Adult: Above olive-gray inclining to ashy on foreparts,—color continued on sides, throat and breast well down, only slightly paler than back; remaining underparts yellowish in various degrees, or sometimes scarcely tinged with yellow[62]; pattern and color of wing much as in preceding species; outermost rectrix edged with whitish on outer web; bill comparatively small and narrow, black above, dusky or blackish below.Young birdspresent a minimum of yellow below and their wing-markings are buffy instead of whitish. Length about 5.50 (139.7); wing 2.80 (71); tail 2.29 (58); bill .41 (10.5); breadth of bill at nostril .19 (4.83); tarsus .63 (16). Females average a little smaller.
Recognition Marks.—Warbler size, the smallest of the four WashingtonEmpidonaces, and possibly the most difficult (where all are vexing); olive-gray of plumage gives impression of blackish at distance; the most sordid below of the Protean quartette; nests high in coniferous trees; eggswhite.
Nesting.—Nest: of fir-twigs, grasses and moss, lined with fine grasses, vegetable down and hair; placed on horizontal limb of fir tree at considerable heights.Eggs: 4, pale creamy white, unmarked. Av. size, .65 × .51 (16.5 × 12.7).Season: June; one brood.
General Range.—Western North America north to southeastern Alaska, the valley of the Upper Yukon and Athabasca, breeding south, chiefly in the mountains, to Colorado and California; south in winter thru Mexico to the highlands of Guatemala.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident in coniferous timber on both sides of the Cascades, irregularly abundant and local in distribution.
Authorities.—[“Hammond’s fly-catcher,†Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.]Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 315ff. D¹. Ra. D². B. E(H).
Specimens.—C.
Hammondi is the western analogue ofminimus, the well-known Least Flycatcher of the East. It has not, however, attained any such distinctness in the public mind, nor is it likely to except in favored localities. These chosen stations are quite as likely to be in the city as elsewhere; but no sooner do we begin to arrive at conclusions as to its habits, notes, etc., than the bird forsakes the region and our work is all to do over again at some distant time.
In the summer of 1895 I found Hammond Flycatchers fairly abundant on Capitol Hill (which was then in its pin-feather stage). Twenty or thirty might have been seen in the course of a morning’s walk in June. Everywherewere to be heard briskSewick’sin the precise fashion of easternminimus; and at rarer intervals a more intense but still harsh and unresonantSweé-chew. These observations were confirmed by the taking of several specimens; but elsewhere and in other seasons I have found the bird most unaccountably silent, and have been able to add little to its repertory of speech.
In the summer of 1906 we found these Flycatchers preparing nests on Cannon Hill in Spokane. In both instances the birds were building out in the open after the fashion of the Western Wood Pewee (Myiochanes richardsonii); one on the bare limb of a horse-chestnut tree some ten feet from the ground; the other upon an exposed elbow of a picturesque horizontal limb of a pine tree at a height of some sixty feet. Near Newport, in Stevens County, we located a nearly completed nest of this species on the 20th of May, and returned on the 1st of June to complete accounts. The nest was placed seven feet from the trunk of a tall fir tree, and at a height of forty feet. The bird was sitting, and when frightened dived headlong into the nearest thicket, where she skulked silently during our entire stay. The nest proved to be a delicate creation of the finest vegetable materials, weathered leaves, fibers, grasses, etc., carefully inwrought, and a considerable quantity of the orange-colored bracts of young fir trees. The lining was of hair, fine grass, bracts, and a single feather. In position the nest might well have been that of a Wood Pewee; but, altho it was deeply cupped, it was much broader, and so relatively flatter. The four fresh eggs which it contained were of a delicate cream-color, changing to pure white upon blowing.
The Hammond Flycatcher was also found to be a common breeder in the valley of the Stehekin, where Mr. Bowles has taken several sets in very similar situations, viz., upon horizontal branches of fir trees at considerable heights.
A. O. U. No. 469.Empidonax wrightiiBaird.Synonym.—Little Gray Flycatcher.Description.—Adult(gray phase): Above dull bluish gray or faintly olivaceous on back and sides; throat and breast pale gray to whitish with admixture of ill-concealed dusky; remaining parts, posteriorly, faintly tinged with pale primrose; a whitish eye-ring; wing-markings, of the same pattern as in other species, or more extensive on secondaries and outer webs of tertials, definitely white; outer web of outermost rectrix pale whitish.Adult(yellow-bellied phase): As in gray phase, but underparts strongly tinged with yellow and upperparts faintly tinged with olive-green; wing-markings less purely white. Bill blackish above,more or less pale below and dusky tipped.Young birdsare whitish below and the wing-bands are buffy as in other species. Length about 5.75 (146); wing 2.69 (68); tail 2.40 (61); bill .47 (12); tarsus .71 (18).Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; prevailing gray coloration; whitish eye-ring; excessively retiring habits.Nesting.—Nest: of hemp, bark-strips, etc., softly lined; built in upright crotch of bush.Eggs: 4 or 5, white, unmarked. Av. size, .68 × .52 (17.3 × 13.2).Season: June; one brood.General Range.—Western United States and southern British Columbia, breeding in Transition and Canadian life-zones, south to southern Arizona and east to Rocky Mountains; south in winter thru southern California and Mexico.Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XIV. Apr. 1897, p. 176.Specimens.—Prov. C.
A. O. U. No. 469.Empidonax wrightiiBaird.
Synonym.—Little Gray Flycatcher.
Description.—Adult(gray phase): Above dull bluish gray or faintly olivaceous on back and sides; throat and breast pale gray to whitish with admixture of ill-concealed dusky; remaining parts, posteriorly, faintly tinged with pale primrose; a whitish eye-ring; wing-markings, of the same pattern as in other species, or more extensive on secondaries and outer webs of tertials, definitely white; outer web of outermost rectrix pale whitish.Adult(yellow-bellied phase): As in gray phase, but underparts strongly tinged with yellow and upperparts faintly tinged with olive-green; wing-markings less purely white. Bill blackish above,more or less pale below and dusky tipped.Young birdsare whitish below and the wing-bands are buffy as in other species. Length about 5.75 (146); wing 2.69 (68); tail 2.40 (61); bill .47 (12); tarsus .71 (18).
Recognition Marks.—Warbler size; prevailing gray coloration; whitish eye-ring; excessively retiring habits.
Nesting.—Nest: of hemp, bark-strips, etc., softly lined; built in upright crotch of bush.Eggs: 4 or 5, white, unmarked. Av. size, .68 × .52 (17.3 × 13.2).Season: June; one brood.
General Range.—Western United States and southern British Columbia, breeding in Transition and Canadian life-zones, south to southern Arizona and east to Rocky Mountains; south in winter thru southern California and Mexico.
Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XIV. Apr. 1897, p. 176.
Specimens.—Prov. C.
Bird-afraid-of-his-shadow is the name this shy recluse deserves. The few seen in Washington have always been skulking in the depths of brush patches, or in clumps of thorn bushes, and they seem to dread nothing so much as the human eye. For all they keep so close to cover they move about restlessly and are never still long enough to afford any satisfaction to the beholder.
The only note I have ever heard it utter (and this repeatedly by different individuals) was a soft liquidswit. But Major Bendire says of its occurrence at Fort Klamath in Oregon; “I do not consider this species as noisy as the Little Flycatcher [E. traillii] which was nearly as common, but its notes are very similar; in fact they are not easily distinguishable, but are given with less vigor than those of the former, while in its actions it is fully as energetic and sprightly as any of the species of the genusEmpidonax.â€
Wright’s Flycatcher affects higher altitudes than do the other species during the nesting season. The nest is placed at heights ranging from two to twenty feet, and is built in upright forks of bushes, or against the trunks of small saplings. Willows, alders, aspens, buck-brush, and service berry are common hosts. Perhaps the only nesting record for Washington consists of a set of four fresh eggs taken by myself from a draw on the side of Boulder Mountain overlooking the Stehekin Valley, on May 30, 1896. The nest had been deserted because of a brush fire which had swept the draw, but it was uninjured; and the situation, an alder fork eight feet up, together with thewhiteeggs, made identification certain.