Feb. 1847.] 157 



of clay, intermixed with fibres of grass, &c, and lined with a thin layer of 

 softer materials, blades of grass, fine strips of bark from the neighboring 

 vineyard, and horsehair, and contained four eggs. This was the second 

 nest which had been built that year; the first near the same place having 

 been destroyed by the occupant of the house, this was commenced stilt 

 nearer the door. I was informed that it was difficult to get them to leave 

 the place they had once selected for their nest, and that if it were torn down 

 they would at once commence forming another. The previous year three 

 successive nests had been destroyed. These birds are constant residents; 

 and, as well as near the towns, are also distributed over the whole country, 

 either in the margins of woods, or bushy plains, and almost always in pairs. 

 They are very pugnacious, and are often seen fighting together in the air, 

 and darting after each other from branch to branch, at the same time ut- 

 ring their peculiar loud and angry tship, which can always be recognized. 

 From the arrangement of its colors, at a little distance, when sitting with 

 their breasts towards you, they are easily mistaken for Snow birds. 



Tyr annus borealis, Swains. Olive-sided Flycatcher. 



T. Cooperii, Nutt. 



I found this species scatteringly in the Rocky Mountains: it is quite 

 abundant in the Pine woods of Upper California, for which it appears to 

 have a great partiality. In the latter part of July I killed the young, not 

 yet fully fledged, in the pines near Monterey, where they must have bred. 



Tyrannus verticalis, Say. Arkansas Flycatcher. 



This tyrant is an abundant resident in California. Around the Pueblo 

 de los Angeles it takes possession of the hedges of the vineyards, orchards 

 and gardens ; noisy, pugnacious, and ever on the alert, it suffers no intru- 

 sion upon its dominions ; Hawk, Raven, or Crow, not even its own species, 

 are allowed to pass unmolested. For this reason it has acquired the name 

 of Correcuerbo (Crow-chaser) by the inhabitants, who also gladly allow 

 them full possession. 



Tyrannus crinitus ? 



A large species of Flycatcher, very much resembling the Great Crested, 

 is not uncommon in California. My friend S. F. Baird, of Carlisle, Pa., is 

 in possession of a specimen, and considering it distinct, it will soon be 

 published in a paper he has prepared, upon the North American birds of 

 this family. Near Monterey I have heard it uttering the paynp note of the 

 Great Crested, and at Santa Barbara they were breeding in the knot holes 

 of the evergreen oaks in May. 



Ptilogonys Tozvnsendii, Aud. Townsend's Ptilogonys. 



This rare bird I frequently found in the Rocky Mountains of the interior 

 of California. See Proceedings of the Academy for April, 1843. 



Icleria viridis, Gmel. Yellow-breasted Chat. 



The Chat arrives in California about the middle of April, and resorts to 

 the hedges of vineyards, gardens and bushy places, where no doubt it breeds. 



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