252 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



and thickets of the Western States and Territories. During the breed- 

 ing season, in the region about Fort Klamath, Oregon, Dr. Merrill 

 usually found it in groves of aspens in company with the Warbling 

 Vireo ; also among the pines with Cassin's Vireo and the Western Wood 

 Pewee. 



The nests were most frequently built in young aspens, at an 

 average height of about six feet. They resemble nests of the Yellow 

 Warbler, which are found in the same localities ; but all the nests of 

 the Flycatcher were built against the main trunk, while all of the 

 Warbler were on branches and generally higher from the ground. The 

 nests are composed externally of strips of light gray bark of about the 

 same colors as the bark of the aspens, and partly on this account and 

 because of their location the nests are liable to escape notice if careful 

 search is not made. The lining is sometimes a smooth, felted mass of 

 fur and horse-hairs, in others, feathers are used, and the nests are gen- 

 erally more deeply cupped than is usual with this group. Pairs that 

 are found among the pines usually place their nests in an upright form 

 of a manzanita or buck-brush that grow abundantly in such localities. 



The eggs are dull, burly-white ; seven sets of twenty-seven speci- 

 mens average .68 x. 53, the extremes of the sets being .65 x .50 and 

 .72x57.* 



471. Pyrocephalus rubineus mexicanus (SCL.) [ 330.] 



Vermilion Flycatcher. 



Hab. Southern border f the United States (Southern Texas to Arizona), south through Mexico to 

 Guatemala. 



Along the Rio Grande of Southern Texas and in Southern Ari- 

 zona the beautiful Vermilion Flycatcher is a common species. Mr. W. 

 E. D. Scott notes it as a common species about Riverside, Tucson, 

 and Florence, Arizona. During the breeding season the male fre- 

 quently utters a twittering song while poised in the air, in the manner 

 of the Sparrow Hawk ; during the song it snaps its bill as if catching 

 insects. Thickets along water-courses are this bird's favorite 

 resorts. 



The nests are usually placed in horizontal forks of ratana trees, 

 often in mesquites, not more than six feet from the ground ; they are 

 composed of small twigs and soft materials felted together, and the 

 rims covered with lichens ; the cavity is shallow. A few horse or cow 

 hairs comprise the lining. Dr. Merrill states that they bear consider- 

 able resemblance to nests of the Wood Pewee in appearance and the 

 manner in which they are saddled to the limb. Mr. Brewster describes 

 a nest taken by Mr. F. Stephens on the 25th of April, at Tucson, 



*Auk 111,258. 



