434 LAND BIRDS 



Nest : Saucer-shaped ; of wiry materials ; fastened to horizontal branches 



of coniferous trees, 40 to 60 feet from the ground. 

 Eggs : 3 ; creamy, spotted at large end with brown and lavender. Size 



0.90 X 0.65. 



Although nowhere very numerous, the Olive-sided 

 Flycatcher is found throughout the forest and moun- 

 tainous regions of California. It prefers the edge of the 

 timber to the dense wood, and stays along the course of 

 streams or around small lakes in the higher altitudes. 

 Like all flycatchers, it feeds on winged insects caught in 

 the air, — moths, butterflies, dragonflies, June bugs, and 

 beetles. Perched upon a dead branch, one of these 

 birds will catch two dozen insects in as many swift 

 dartings out into the air, always returning to the same 

 lookout to eat them. 



About the middle of May the females arrive from the 

 South, and then the call-notes grow louder and merrier. 

 Heard through the quiet hours of dusk or in the silence 

 of a moonlight night, they are singularly like the plain- 

 tive notes of our wood pewee. But this is not all the 

 song the little lover can sing, for when he goes a-wooing 

 in the fresh coolness of the morning he trills a right 

 merry lay. What though it be short and of limited 

 range, the glory of the sunrise and the joy of love are in 

 it. It is a beautiful world ! He is glad to be in it, and 

 as you listen you are glad to be in it too. AVhen you 

 hear this warble, you may know that somewhere in the 

 top of a tall spruce tree a wee nest is being woven of 

 fine hair-like rootlets, small twigs, and long green moss. 

 Outside it will likely be covered with lichens, and inside 

 lined with moss. So securely will it be woven io the 



