WESTERN FLYCATCHER 251 



of the Empidonax group. Both parents are devoted to the defense of 

 their home and family, and the male stands guard nearby while the 

 female is incubating and drives away any other birds that venture too 

 near the nest. Mr. Pearse tells me that the flight is hesitating, like 

 that of the kingbird. I am not acquainted with the bird in life. 



Voice. — Mr. Pearse (MS.) mentions an alarm note similar to the 

 tsip alarm note of warblers, and another alarm note that resembles the 

 call of Harris's woodpecker, but he writes the usual note as jnsint. 



Ralph Hoffmann (1927) writes : "From under live oaks in a canyon, 

 from deciduous trees near a stream or even from shady plantations 

 about dwellings from April to July a single sharp note, pee-ist, like the 

 expiration of wheezy breath, catches the ear of an attentive listener. 

 * * * Besides the pee-ist note, almost but not quite two syllables, 

 the Western Flycatcher utters a low tohit. In the breeding season 

 the male repeats, often for long periods from the same perch, three 

 syllables which constitute his attempt at song, ps-seet ptsick, and after 

 a slight pause S5^." 



Grinnell and Storer (1924) write: 



On the morning of June 3, 1915, a Western Flycatcher was watched as it sang 

 and foraged among the big-trunked incense cedars and huge mossy boulders 

 on the north side of the Yosemite Valley, at the foot of Rocky Point. The greenish 

 yellow of the bird's upper plumage and its yellowish under surface were the 

 only sight characters available, but the call note and song were both distinctive. 

 The former was a single high-pitched, even piercing, swe^ ip or Hce^ it ; less often 

 a fainter peet was uttered. The song goes se6 rip, sip, sed rip, or sometimes sed 

 rip, sert, sip, sed rip, and is repeated over and over again, often so continuously 

 that the pauses between songs seem no greater than the intervals between the 

 constituent notes. The syllables were given in varying order, and often the 

 single combination, sed rip, was uttered over and over again. While singing, 

 this bird was perched on various twigs and branches 10 to 20 feet above the 

 ground. The song is to be heard most often in May and early June, but as late 

 as July 30 a bird was heard in full summer song. 



Bendire (1895) quotes C. A. Allen as saying: "Its song consists of 

 a soft, low note. It shows much distress when its nest is taken, utter- 

 ing then a low, wailing note, like 'pee-eu, pee-eu' and frequently flutters 

 about the person taking it and snapping its mandibles together." 



Field marks. — The small flycatchers of the Empidonax group are 

 very difficult to distinguish in the field by color characters alone. 

 The western flycatcher is more olivaceous above and more extensively 

 yellowish below, with a much brighter shade of yellow, especially on 

 the belly, than any of the small western species ; but there are three 

 other western species that are more or less yellowish on the under 

 parts, traiUi, hammondi^ and wrighti, all of which closely resemble 

 di-fflcilis in other respects. Fortunately the habitats of the four species 

 are somewhat different. Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says on this point: 

 "The Traill Flycatcher is very similar in appearance to the West- 



