342 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Dr. Kenuerly states tliat after passing the mountains of California, and 

 descending into the valh-y of the Sau Gahriel JJiver, he found these birds 

 quite abundant on tiie Tueblo Creek in New Me.xico, though he had noticed 

 none previously. They were generally found perched upon the summit of a 

 bush, from wiiich they would occasionally make short excursions in search 

 of prey. At the season in which they were observed, March, they v^ere 

 rarely found in paii-s, from which he inferred they were already hatching. 



Dr. Heermann speaks of it as abundant throughout all California, and 

 as constructing its nests in situations similar to those of the common 

 eastern species {S. fuscv^). It seems to have a marked predilection for the 

 vicinity of streams and lakes, where it is nearly always to be seen, perched 

 upon a stake or branch. It occasionally darts into the air for an insect, and 

 returns to the same place to renew its watch and to repeat these movements. 

 The nest, composed of mud and mosses and lined with hair, is placed against 

 the rocks, the rafters of a house or bridge, or against the inside of a large 

 hollow tree, and the eggs, four or five in number, are pure white, speckled 

 with red. 



Dr. Coues found this Flycatcher a very abundant and permanent resident 

 in the valleys of the Gila arid Colorado, and the more southern portions of 

 the Territory of Arizona generally. It was not observed in the immediate 

 vicinity of Fort Whipple, though it wtis detected a few miles south of that 

 locality. As it has been found on the Pacific coast so much farther north 

 than the latitude of Fort Whipple, he thinks it may yet be met with, 

 at least as a summer visitant to that place. In his journey from Arizona 

 to tlie Pacific, he ascertained that it is common throughout Southern Ari- 

 zona, being, among laud Ijirds, his most constant companion on the route. 

 Perched generally in pairs upon the dense verdure that in many places 

 overhangs the river, it pursued its constant ^■ocation of securing the va- 

 grant insects around it, constantly uttering its peculiar unmelodious notes. 

 In all its movements the Pewee of the Eastern States was unmistakably 

 reproduced. It was rather shy and wary. In Southern Arizona and Cali- 

 fornia it remains throughout the winter. It seems to delight not only in 

 river bottoms, but also in deep mountain gorges and precipitous canons 

 with small streams flowing through them. 



Dr. Newberry found this species quite common in Northern California, 

 and specimens were also obtained as far to the north as the Umpqua Valley 

 in Oregon. According to Dr. Cooper it is an abundant and resident species in 

 aU the lower parts of California, except the Colorado ^'alley, wliere he found 

 none later than March 25, as they had all evidently passed on farther north. 

 At San Diego, at that date, the following year (1862), all these birds had 

 nests and eggs, and were there, as elsewhere, the first birds to build. Their 

 nest, he states, is formed of an outer wall of mud about five and a quarter 

 inches wide and three and a half high. It is built like that of the Barn 

 Swallow, in little pellets, piled successively, as they dry, in the shape of 



