248 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the woods. All the material used in this nest, except its lining, 

 was ground moss of a rich dark-green color, enough being used to fill 

 the small crotch to a height of about 5 inches. The inside of the nest 

 was a round depression in the quite level top surface of the moss, 

 it having a diameter of 1% inches with a depth of 1^. This de- 

 pression was lined entirely with fine shreds of inner bark of the 

 cedar, the texture of which was very soft. It was neatly, very 

 smoothly woven, showing a high degree of skill; and, because of its 

 reddish color, it made a beautiful contrast to the dark-green moss. 

 The inside rim of this nest was a perfect circle; never in any bird's 

 nest have I seen one so flawless; and it seemed to me that the maker 

 of this particular nest had at least some sense of artistry." 



Major Bendire (1895) mentions a number of quite different nesting 

 sites. C. A. Allen, of Nicasio, Calif., wrote to him : 



I have found its nests in all sorts of situations; sometimes in a small tree, 

 placed in the upright forks of the main stem ; again on the side of the stem, 

 where a small stub of a limb or some sprouts grew out; or in a slight cavity 

 in a tree trunk; against an old stump or root which had been washed down 

 during a flood in the middle of a stream ; among curled-up roots near the water, 

 etc. I have found a number of nests, when fishing for trout, by flushing the 

 bird from under a bank ; and on stooping down and looking I foimd the nest 

 nicely concealed by the deep-green moss, such as covered the surrounding 

 stones. They always use this particular kind of moss, no matter where the 

 nest is placed. Occasionally they nest in deserted woodcutters' huts, in out- 

 buildings near cover, and a friend of mine has some large water tanks in the 

 woods back of his house, where for nineteen consecutive years these birds have 

 built under the covered roofs of these tanks. I know of no place in this locality 

 where they do not breed, excepting in very open country. * * * 



In Belt Canyon, Montana, on July 6, 1889, Mr. R. S. Williams found the 

 Western Flycatcher nesting in a narrow fissure of limestone, about 7 feet above 

 the base of the wall. A nest observed by Mr. A. W. Anthony, near Howards- 

 ville, San Juan County, Colorado, on June 25, was placed on a ledge of rock, 

 about 10 feet above a wagon road, and looked like a large ball of green moss, 

 with a neat little cup in the center, lined with cow and horse hair. * * * 

 Mr. A. M. IngersoU reports finding a nest of this species at the bottom of a 

 hole 5 inches deep, made by a Red-shafted Flicker in a live oak; nests have 

 also been taken in piles of driftwood, on beams under bridges, etc. * * • 



The nest is composed of weed stems, dry grasses, plant fibers and down, 

 strips of the inner bark of the redwood, fine rootlets, dead leaves, and bits 

 of moss. It is usually lined with finer materials of the same kind, and occasion- 

 ally with horse and cattle hair or a few feathers. The outside of the nest is 

 usually coated with green moss when obtainable, but some nests before me show 

 no trace of this in their composition. They are generally placed not far from 

 water, but there are exceptions to this. A well-preserved nest now before 

 me, * * * measures 4 inches in outer diameter by 2 inches in height. The 

 inner cup measures 2^4 inches by 1% inches deep. 



That this flycatcher does not always nest in the solitude of the 

 forests is shown by the nests reported by Dr. Grimiell (1914a) on the 

 Berkeley Campus : "In one case a brood was reared in a nest ensconced 



