388 THE TRAll.L FLYCATCHER. 



Tliese Flycatchers in nesting time are verv confiding and very devoted 

 parents. One may sometimes touch tiie sitting hird, and, when off, she 

 flutters about \ery close to the intruder, sneezing violently and sni])])ing her 

 mandiljles like fairv scissors. 



No. 149. 



TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 



-A. ( ). L. Xii. 466. Empidonax traillii 1 And. ). 



Synonyms. — Littlic Fl\ catch liK. EiTTi.i-; \\'1':sticrn Fi^vc.vtcher. 



Description. — Plumage of upperparts very >iniihu- to that of E. difhcUis. but 

 olive inclining to brownish ; wing-bars usually ])aler. more whitish : outer web 

 of outer rectrix pale grayish white: sides of head and neck decidedly browner; 

 underparts everywhere paler, nearly white on throat ; breast sordid, scarcely 

 olivaceous ; lower abdomen and crissuni pale primrose yellow ; bend of wing yellow 

 flecked with dusky; a faint eye-ring pale olive-gray. Kill black above, light 

 brownish below (not so light in life as E. difficiUs} . Yoiiutj: much as in preced- 

 ing species, but averaging browner ; more \ellow below than adult. Length 5.50- 

 6.00 ( 139. 7-1 52.4) ; wing 2.^0 170): tail 2.2s * ^7 ) : bill .41; (12.^); tarsus 

 .65 (16.5). 



Recognition Marks. — \\'arbk'r ^ize; olivaceous coloration: not so vellow 

 below as preceding s|)ecie^: brush-haunting hal)its : note a smart s-a'if'choo. 



Nesting. — Nest: a rather Ijulky but neatly-turned cu]) of plant-fibres, bark- 

 strips, grass, etc., carefully lined with fine grasses: ])laced three to ten feet up, in 

 crotch of bush or sapling of lowland thicket or swamp. Eijf/s: 3 or 4, not certainlv 

 distinguishable from those of preceding species. Av. size, .70 x .54 ( 17. S x 13.7 ). 

 Season: June; one brood. 



General Range. — Western North America, breeding north to southern 

 .Alaska (Dyea). "east, northerly, to western portion of (ireat Plains, much 

 farther southerly, breeding in Iowa(?). Missouri, southern Illinois, and 

 probablv elsewhere in central Mississip]ii \'allc)" : south in winter over Mexico 

 td Colombia, etc. 



Range in Washington. — Tm])crfect1y made out — summer resident in thickets 

 at lower le\-els thruouti ?i the State. 



Authorities. — Eiiif^iilniiax f^usilhis Cabanis, Baird, Rc]). Pac. R. R. Surv. 

 IX. 1858, p. 195. Ibid. C&S. 170. (T). C&S. L^ D'. Ra. P.. E. 



Specimens. — iV. of A\'. 1 Trov. P. E. 



DIvSCRHlINATIOX is the constant effort of those who woubl study the 

 Empidonaces, the Little Fl\'catchers. Comparing colors, Traill's gi\es an im- 

 pression of brownness, where the Western is yellowish green, Hammond's 

 blackish, and \\'right"s grayish dusk\-. These distinctions are not glaring, but 



