268 Birds of Colorado 



year after year to build in the same place, which is usually 

 under the eaves of barns or sheds, or under bridges, but 

 generally in the neighbourhood of a ranehe. In early 

 days, before the advent of civilization, it made use of 

 caves and overhanging banks for its nest. This is a 

 bulky structure plastered up with mud, and generally 

 lined with hair or wool, with a base of various materials. 

 The eggs are usually four or five in number, rather short 

 ovates in shape, and generally pure white. Two broods 

 are often raised in one season. 



Say's Phoebe is a restless bird, constantly flicking 

 its tail and raising its crest ; it is always on the move, 

 looking out for insects, which almost exclusively form 

 its food, and which it often catches on the wing ; like 

 Owls, it rejects the hard parts of these in the form of 

 pellets. The note is loud and somewhat plaintive. 



Genus NUTTALLORNIS. 



Flycatchers of moderate size — wing about 4-0, with a very stout 

 bill, the width of which at the nostrils exceeds half the length of the 

 culmen ; wings long and pointed, the outer (tenth) primary exceeding 

 the seventh distinctly ; tail short, about two-thirds of the length of the 

 wing, plain coloured and emarginate ; feet very small, tarsus shorter 

 than the culmen and the middle toe and claw ; a patch of silky white 

 feathers on either side of the rump. 



Only the one species here described is assigned to this genas. 



Olive-sided Flycatcher. Nuttallornis borealis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 459— Colorado Records— Allen 72, p. 158 ; 

 Aiken 72, p. 206 ; Henshaw 75, p. 350 ; Scott 79, p. 94 ; Minot 80, 

 p. 231 ; Drew 81, p. 140 ; Tresz 81, p. 183 ; Allen & Brewster 83, 

 p. 195 ; Drew 85, p. 17 ; Morrison 88, p. 107 ; 89, p. 146 ; Lowe 

 92, p. 101 ; 94, p. 268 ; Bendire 92, p. 282 ; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 

 88, 201; Henderson 03, p. 235; 09, p. 232; Oilman 07, p. 155; 

 Rockwell 08, p. 167. 



Description. — General colour above slaty-olive, feathers of the crown 

 with darker centres ; wings and tail dark brown, the former with the 

 secondaries and greater coverts edged and tipped with whitish ; below 

 the chin and throat very pale yellowish ; the centre of the breast, 



