ACADIAN FLYCATCHER 193 



shadows for some time before I get sight of it. It is perched on a dead limb, 

 near the base of a small hemlock ; and always accompanies its note with a 

 quick jerk of the tail. Like the rest of the Flycatchers, it sits still on its 

 perch and waits for its prey ; and wlieii that prey appears, be it beetle, fly, 

 or moth, it darts quickly after it. cutting a smooth curve, which is sure to 

 intercept it, and seizing it with a sharp click of the mandibles. With its quick, 

 well-directed movement, the broad gape of its deeply cleft mouth and tangle 

 of bristles on either side of it, there is but a slim chance of escape for its 

 victim. 



In the matter of confidence as against timidity, testimonies are 

 various and inconsistent. Brownell (1887), writing from Plymouth, 

 Mich., remarks that "tlie sharp chirp of the female often repeated 

 was an infallible guide to its nest." Brimley (1889), from Raleigh, 

 N. C, says that "they leave [the nest] so quietly and unobtrusively 

 on the approach of man as to make it next to impossible to find the 

 nest by flushing the bird." Similarly, Wayne (1910), writing from 

 Charleston, S. C, says, "When the birds are building nests or in. 

 cubating their eggs they are always extremely shy, and leave the 

 nest long before a person has approached within twenty-five yards of 

 its location." Stockard (1905) writing from Adams County, Miss., 

 calls this "a species with most retiring habits. The nest may be 

 found and removed without the birds having made their appearance 

 or the slightest sound." He describes two nests particularly and 

 adds that he would have failed to find them, "but for the fact that 

 the birds flew off as I passed under the limbs." Brewster (1886), 

 writing from western North Carolina, says, "It is one of the tamest 

 and least suspicious of the small Flycatchers, but owing to its retir- 

 ing disposition, and habit of sitting perfectly motionless among the 

 foliage, it is much oftener heard than seen." Sutton (1928) tells 

 of an experience in Crawford County, Pa.: "By closely watching 

 a female on May 26 I found a nest just ready for eggs partially 

 suspended from a long, swaying beech limb. On May 30 the nest 

 was complete. On June 3 it held three eggs. This nest, which was 

 over twenty feet from ground, was secured by making a huge 

 tripod from three saplings bound together at one end. Though the 

 branch was considerably shaken and swayed the female would not 

 leave until I touched her." I have myself stood within 10 feet of a 

 bird upon her nest in a low sapling. And no doubt it is true that 

 the stage to which incubation has advanced is a factor in the equipoise 

 between behaviors that we call timid and courageous. 



It has sometimes been intimated that the bird breeds in colonies 

 (see, for instance. Porter, 1907), but this, no doubt, is a hasty con- 

 clusion, drawn from the fact that within the now greatly restricted 

 areas of suitable habitat it ordinarily is common. In the course of 

 half a mile along a woodland stream I have found as many as six 

 pairs resident, but have discovered no evidence of interdependence 



