382 THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 



more, and is, fortunately, quite unforgettable. Both in accent and energy 

 it seems to set the pace for several of the lesser Tyrants. Of course, like 

 many another of the voices of Nature, its interpretation depends a good 

 deal upon the mood of the listener. Heard on a dull day at sea-level it 

 may sound dismal enough, but heard in the sharp air of the mountains it 

 becomes an exultant note. There are miners in the heart of the Cascades 

 who regard the brisk evening greeting of this Flycatcher as one of the 

 compensations of solitude. "Three cheers!" the bird seems to say to one 

 who returns from the silent bowels of the earth and grasps again the facts 

 of outer life. 



Borealis is a bird of the tree-tops and nearer you cannot come, save 

 in nesting season, when caution is thrown to the winds and a study in 

 morbid psychology is all too easy. The birds place a rustic saucer of inter- 

 woven black rootlets and mosses on tlie upper side of a horizontal branch, 

 whether of hemlock, fir, or cedar, and, as often as otherwise, at moderate 

 heights. They are very uneasy at the presence of strangers and flit about 

 witii a restless, tittering, cry, fezv-tczv. tezv-tezc. or fczv-fczr-fezv, a sound 

 which strangelv excites the blood of the oologist. Once the nesting tree is 

 made out and the ascent begun, the birds are beside themselves with rage, 

 and dash at the intruder with angry cries, which really stimulate endeavor 

 where they are intended to discourage it. 



How fatal is the beauty of an egg-shell! There be those of us who 

 have drunk so oft of this subtle potion that the hand goes out instinctively 

 to grasp the proffered cup. Besides, the product of an Olive-side's skill 

 is of a very special kind — a rich cream-colored oval, warmed by a hint of 

 living flesh and splotched with saucy chestnut. It is irresistible! But, 

 boys, don't do it ! We are old topers oursel\-es : public sentiment is against 

 us, and our davs are numbered. It is right that it should be so. Besides 

 that, and speaking in all seriousness now, while it is desirable and necessary 

 that a few representative collections of natural history should lie built 

 up for the public use. it does not follow that the public good is secured 

 by the accunuilation of endless private hordes of bird's-eggs — whose logical 

 end, in ninetv-nine cases out of a hundred, is the scrap-heap. You are 

 probably one of tlie ninety-nine. Think twice before you start a collection 

 and then — don't ! 



