376 - NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



in May, constructing its nest about the first of June. This is gene- 

 rally placed on a drooping limb of a beech or dogwood tree at the height 

 of from si.x to ten feet from the ground. It is never saddled on a limb 

 like that of a Wood Pewee, neither is it pensile like those of the Vireos, 

 but is built in the fork of a small limb, ;uid securely fastened tliereto by a 

 strip of bark. The nest itself is mostly made of fine strips of bark or weed- 

 stalks, woven together without much care as to neatness or .strength, and so 

 very slight is the structure that you may often count the eggs in the nest 

 from below. Occasionally this bird constructs its nest of the blossoms of 

 the hickory-tree, and when thus made is very neat and pretty. 



The eggs are generally three in number (Mr. Jackson has never known 

 more in a nest), and they are said to be of a rich cream-color, thinly spotted 

 near the greater end. The Cow-Bird sometimes imposes on this species 

 with its parasitic ofispring, but not so often as upon other bii-ds. 



Mr. Jackson also informs me that this is quite a common Ijird in some 

 localities. In one piece of woodland, half a mile east of West Chester, he 

 can every season meet with six or eight of their nests, while in another 

 direction, in a wood apparently similar in exery respect, he has never met 

 with any. 



Mr. J. A. Allen mentions finding this Flycatcher as a rare summer \-isit- 

 ant in Western Massachusetts, where, as he states, it breeds in swamps and 

 low moist thickets, which are its exclusive haunts. He characterizes it as one 

 of the most spirited and tyrannical of this genus. It is said to have a short 

 quick note, sounding like quequeal, which it utters hurriedly and sharply, 

 and to lia\-e an erect, hawk-like attitude. He adds that it is very quarrel- 

 some with its own species, a battle ensuing whenever two males meet. 

 They pursue each other fiercely, with snapping bills and sharp, querulous, 

 twittering notes. He found it a very shy bird, and difficult to collect, fre- 

 quenting exclusively, so far as he was al^le to observe, thick alder-swamps 

 and swampy thickets, keeping concealed among the thick bushes, or at a 

 great distance. 



Wilsoii"s liistory of this species is quite brief, and he expressly states that 

 it is a biid but little known. His account of its nest and eggs is inaccurate, 

 and refers probably to that of the minimtis, as also the statement that it 

 extends its migrations as far as Newfoundland. He found it inhabiting 

 only the deepest solitary parts of the woods, stationed among the lower 

 branches, uttering at short intervals a sudden, sharp squeak, beard at con- 

 siderable distance through the woods. As it flies, it utters a low, querulous 

 note, which it changes, on alighting, to its usual sharp cry. He adds that 

 it is a rare and very solitary bird, always haunting the most gloomy, moist, 

 and unfrequented parts of the forest, feeding on flying insects, de\ouring 

 wild liees and hucklelierries in their season. 



To this account Audul ion furnishes but little additional that is reliable. He 

 evidently confounded witli it the minimvs, repeats Wilson's description of its 



