WESTERN BIRDS Flycatcher 



and down he utters all the while a penetrating scream, 

 ka-qiiee-ka-quee-ka-qiiee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee, the 

 emphasis being given each time at the top of the ascend- 

 ing line." 



Leander S. Keyser says of the nesting habits of this 

 handsome bird: "The nests of the Scissor-tails are set in 

 the crotches of trees in the neighborhood of country 

 homes on the prairie. Considering the size of the birds, 

 their nests are quite small, not as large as the brown 

 thrasher's, although the cup is deeper and the architec- 

 ture more compact and elaborate. A friend describes a 

 nest which he found on a locust tree about sixteen feet 

 from the ground. It was made mostly of dry grass and 

 locust blossoms, with here and there a piece of twine 

 braided into the structure. It had no special lining, but 

 the grass was more evenly woven on the inside of the 

 cup than elsewhere. 



"From three to five eggs are deposited. The ground 

 color is white, either pure or creamy, sparingly mottled 

 with rich madder-brown and lilac-gray, the spots being 

 thicker and larger on the larger end. While the nest 

 is undergoing examination, the owners circle and hover 

 overhead, much after the fashion of the red-winged 

 blackbirds, and express their disapproval in loud and 

 musical calls, displaying their rich scarlet decorations." 



Another member of this genus, known as the Fork- 

 tailed Flycatcher, resembles this bird save that it lacks 

 the salmon coloring, but is only an accidental straggler 

 in the United States. 



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