258 FLYCATCHERS 



compared with those of horealis, in which the dark sides are sharply con- 

 trasted with the white median line ; it also lacks the conspicuous cottony 

 rump tufts of borealis. 



Distribution. — Ftom mountains of central and southern Arizona, south 

 through northwestern Mexico. 



Nest. — As far as known, of grass tops, moss, lichens, catkins, leaves, 

 spider's web, fragments of insects and their exuviae, placed on an oak or 

 pine branch 15 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs : On one record, o, cream 

 buff, spotted in a ring around the larger end with brown and lilac gray. 



Food. — Flies, beetles, and^other insects. 



In the mountains of southern Arizona Mr. Henshaw found the 

 Coues flycatcher in the pines or in rocky gulches of mixed pine and 

 oak, launching out from the branches, circling around the high pine 

 stubs, and making the sudden erratic flights from point to point 

 which are especially characteristic of the species. 



Its notes, though similar to those of the olive-sided flycatcher, 

 Mr. Henshaw says, can easily be distinguished from them, the last 

 syllable being prolonged and raised. 



461- Contopus virens (Linn.). Wood Pewee. 



Adults. — Upper parts grayish brown, tinged ivith olive ; two wing bars 

 dull whitish ; under parts whitish, more or less washed with olive gray 

 and tinged with pale yellowish ; wing at least six times as long as tarsus, 

 tarsus longer than middle toe with claw ; exposed culmen much less than 

 twice the width of bill at nostrils. Young : with huffy or brownish wing- 

 bars. Length 5.90-6.50, wing 3.00-3.^5., tail iS. 50-2. 90, exposed culmen 

 .4o-.52, width of bill at base .24-.o0, tarsus .48-.53. 



Distribution. — Breeds from southern provinces of Canada to Florida, 

 and from the Atlantic west to the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas ; mi- 

 grates through eastern Mexico to South America. 



Nest. — Usually in deciduous trees 5 to 50 feet from the ground, made 

 largely of plant fibers, rootlets, and moss, coated with lichen. Eggs : 2 to 

 4, white, irregularly wreathed around larger end with browns and purples. 



Food. — Insects, including grasshoppers, locusts, and caterpillars. 



The wood pewee is sometimes met with west of the hundredth 

 meridian in Texas, and though it is almost indistinguishable from its 

 western congener in coloration and habit, its notes identify it the 

 instant they reach the ear. The call of the western is a common- 

 place jmeer, but that of the wood pewee is a plaintive musical 

 pee-ah-wee. 



462. Contopus richardsonii (Swa?ns.). Western Wood Pewee.^ 



Adults. — Upper parts dark grayish brown ; under parts heavily washed 

 with dark gray ; belly and under tail coverts 

 whitish or pale yellowish ; wing at least six 

 times as long as tarsus ; tarsus longer than 

 middle toe with claw ; exposed culmen much Fig. 334. 



* Contopus richardsonii saturatus Bishop. Alaskan Wood Pewee. 



Like richardsonii but darker, with smaller bill. 



Distribution. — Yukon Valley, southern Alaska and British Columbia, near the coast 

 in summer, migrating south through California. (TAe Auk, xvii. 116.) 



