OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, OR 'pE-Pe/ 283 



blowsy cap, and kept up a whistling, oft repeated, whining 

 call of 'j)^ 'P^i then varied to ^pu 'pip, and 'pip pu^ also 

 at times 'pip 'pip 'pu, 'pip 'pip 'pip, 'pu 'pupip, or 'tu 'tu 

 'til, and 'tu 'tu. This shrill, pensive, and quick whistle 

 sometimes dropped almost to a whisper, or merely 'pu. 

 The tone was in fact much like that of the 'phu 'phu 'phu 

 of the Fish Hawk. The male, however, besides this note, 

 at long intervals, had a call of 'eh'phebee, or 'h'phehed, 

 almost exactly in the tone of the circular tin whistle, or 

 bird'Call, being loud, shrill, and guttural at the commence- 

 ment. The nest of this pair I at length discovered, in the 

 horizontal branch of a tall red cedar 40 or 50 feet from 

 the ground. It was formed much in the manner of the 

 King-bird, externally made of interlaced dead twigs of 

 the cedar, internally of the wiry stolons of the common 

 cinquefoil, dry grass, and some fragments of branching 

 Lichen or Usnea. It contained 3 young, and had prob- 

 ably 4 eggs. The eggs had been hatched about the 20th 

 of June, so that the pair had arrived in this vicinity about 

 the close of May. 



The young remained in the nest no less than 23 

 days, and were fed from the first on beetles and per- 

 fect insects, which appeared to have been wholly digest- 

 ed without any regurgitation. Towards the close of this 

 protracted period the young could fly with all the celerity 

 of the parents ; and they probably went to and from the 

 nest repeatedly before abandoning it. The male was at 

 this time extremely watchful, and frequently followed me 

 from his usual residence, after my paying him a visit, near- 

 ly half a mile. These birds, which I watched on several 

 successive days, were no way timid, and allowed me for 

 some time, previous to visiting their nest, to investigate 

 them and the premises they had chosen, without showing 

 any sign of alarm, or particular observation. 



