194 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



between them. In the same territory pairs of ovenbirds were as 

 closely spaced, and were far more abundant, since they were settled 

 over the slopes of the ravine, while the flycatchers were confined to 

 the margin of the stream. 



Coues (1880) quotes Widmann, who, speaking of conditions in 

 St. Louis County, Mo., says of acadicus {=virescens) that, while 

 found in the forests only, it there is "very abundant — that means, 

 one pair to every few acres." 



Dr. Sutton writes (MS.) from Bethany, W. Va.: "The Acadian 

 Flycatcher may be more active in the late summer than at any other 

 season. Watchful as it is for passing insects, it must now devote 

 part of its time to the keeping of its plumage free of the webs en- 

 countered in capturing its prey. I have at this season watched the 

 bird on its perch, fluttering wings and tail, running its bill rapidly 

 along its feathers, scratching its face with its foot, and so casting 

 off these shreds of silk." 



If it were possible to rename the bird, it should be called Empi- 

 donax sericiferens, the silk-bearing Eiwpidonax. 



Voice. — The oft-repeated cry when on the nesting ground is of 

 two syllables run into one: abrupt, startling, a hiccup of a song. 

 Ka-zeep, one writer vocalizes it; Wichy-up^ another. And Warren 

 (1890) gives, as a vernacular name, Hick-up. Wilson (1810) wrote: 



"This bird is but little known. It inhabits the deepest, thick 

 shaded, solitary parts of the woods, sits generally on the lower 

 branches, utters, every half minute or so, a sudden sharp squeak, 

 which is heard a considerable way thro the woods; and as it flies 

 from one tree to another Has a low querulous note, something like 

 the twitterings of chickens nestling under the wings of the hen. On 

 alighting this sound ceases; and it utters its note as before." (A 

 good instance this of the Father of American Ornithology at his best 

 in characterization.) 



Bradford Torrey (1896) speaks of "the petulant, snappish cry of 

 an Acadian flycatcher." Aretas A. Saunders (1935) writes: 



The song is two-syllabled, the second note higher than the first, with a slight 

 burr in it, and a little longer and strongly accented, like "fca-^eep." This is 

 repeated at short intervals through the breeding season. 



The call note is a simple "peet," and the bird also sometimes produces a 

 series of short musical notes all on one pitch, "we-we-tve-we-we," which re- 

 semble strongly the sound produced by the Mourning Dove in flight, and are 

 supi)Osed by many to be made by the wings. The bird sometimes produces 

 this sound when in flight, as the Dove most frequently does. 



Of this sound, supposed by many to be made by the wings, Brew- 

 ster (1882a) wrote, "They [the Acadian Flycatchers] had another 

 note also which was much like the whistling of wings. I afterwards 

 satisfied myself that this sound was a vocal one." 



