100 Wyoming Experiment Station. 



457. Sayornis saya (Bonap.). 

 Say's Phoebe. 



Summer resident and abundant. A peculiar bird that 

 makes its home alike in the midst of a lonely desert or about 

 the houses of western towns. It cares but little where it makes 

 a nest. I have found them in a sagebrush, in medium sized 

 trees, on large rocks and in nooks about houses and in aband- 

 oned buildings. They arrive on the Laramie plains about the 

 middle of April. One season the first bird was seen on April 

 11, and another as late as April 25th. I have seen this bird in 

 every county in the state. It seeks the lower elevations, but is 

 occasionally found breeding at 8,000 feet where there are scat- 

 tering trees or brush. 



Wood reports a specimen taken near Pole creek, July 

 24th, 1857; Williston found them at Lake Conio and notes, 

 "April 24, very common here. While nesting they were quite 

 fearless, not leaving eggs or young till closely pressed." Coues 

 reports three or more specimens from this state ; Bond states 

 that they are very common at Cheyenne ; Jesurun finds them 

 abundant at Douglas. The following data has been secured 

 from the Smithsonian institution: No. 88126, taken at Fort 

 Laramie by R. W. Shufeldt, and No. 72965, taken at Cheyenne 

 by the U. S. G. S. of the Ters., 1876. Cary furnishes the fol- 

 lowing note on the occurrence of this species at Newcastle : 

 "This interesting flycatcher is quite common in the canons, 

 where its sweet but somewhat melancholv note may be heard 

 at all times of the day. The favorite perch of this bird is on a 

 boulder in the bottom of the canon, from which it darts forth 

 every few moments to capture a passing insect. But one nest 

 was found, containing two eggs on June II, 1899, which was 

 situated on a small ledge in a recess of the canon wall. This 

 nest, which was composed almost entirelv of moss, was re- 

 markably shallow, the center being not more than two-thirds 

 of an inch lower than the eds'e." 



