BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 2D0 



EMPIDONAX PISILLIIS TRAILLII (Audubon) (466a). 

 TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 



Traill's Flycatcher usually arrives in the latitude of Minne- 

 apolis not far from the 20th of May, and is abundantly repre- 

 sented for its species for ten or fifteen days, when the princi- 

 pal part move on further north to breed. Individuals are 

 occasionally met with so much later that if no nests had been 

 obtained I should feel assured of their breeding in this section 

 to some extent, but a few nests have been obtained by col 

 lectors, which upon examination I have pronounced those of 

 this interesting bird. Mr. Lewis who is familiar with the 

 habits of this species reports them common along the St. 

 Louis and Rainy Lake rivers in the northern sections of the 

 State during the months of June and July, from which 

 although he collected no nests he naturally inferred they bred 

 there. The nests I have seen were obtained under conditions 

 corresponding to those described as characteristic of this bird, 

 viz: — About swamps and lowlands and along streams, and were 

 without exception found in the forks of bushes and saplings, 

 and about seven to ten feet from the ground. They were com 

 posed externally of various fibrous materials mixed with 

 grasses, giving them a bleached gray appearance, the inside of 

 fine grass neatly adjusted, while there is a downy substance 

 distributed throughout the entire structure. The eggs were 

 creamy-white with the larger end somewhat spotted with 

 reddish-brown. The autumnal migration takes place from the 

 first to the tenth of September. 



I am not a little surprised that Mr. Washburn did not meet 

 this species in his earlier explorations of a portion of the Red 

 river valley, as he made a careful observation of others of the 

 same genus. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Third quill longest, second scarcely shorter than fourth, first 

 shorter than fifth, about thirty -five hundredths of an inch 

 shorter than the longest; primaries about seventy- five hun- 

 dredths 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 neck; center of the 

 crown feathers brown; a pale yellowish- white ring (in some 

 specimens altogether white) around 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 with 

 individuals, the former sometimes faintly tinged with olive; 

 sides of the breast much like the back; middle of the belly 



