WESTERN WOOD PEWEE 281 



"The nest of this flycatcher, though somewhat shallow, is a beauti- 

 ful one. In the many I have found the materials used consisted of 

 small pieces of plant fibers, often a downy substance from cottonwood 

 blooms, bits of fine dry grasses, and at times a few bud scales of small 

 size, all neatly interwoven. This represented the bottom of the nest, 

 which then was decorated outwardly with lichens, bits of grayish 

 moss, now and then a few little bud scales, all skillfully bound thereon 

 by spider webs and filmy plant fibers, with occasionally a few horse- 

 hairs. Always the lining was of fine dry grasses. The nests were 

 either saddled on an ()[)en branch or attached snugly on a small hori- 

 zontal fork of a limb, at heights that varied from 15 to 40 feet ; and 

 all were placed in deciduous trees of not large size."' 



Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1905) described a nest from Cali- 

 fornia that differs somewhat from that described above: "The base 

 and sides of this nest are largely composed of the exuviae of chry- 

 salides, intermingled Avith hemp-like fibres of plants, stems and fine 

 dry grasses. The rim is firmly wrought of strong Aviry stems, and 

 a large portion of the inner nest is of the same material. The AA'hole 

 is Avarmly and thoroughly lined Avith the soft fine hair of small quad- 

 rupeds and Avith vegetable fibres.'' 



All the nests I haA^e seen differ from the nests of the eastern wood 

 pewee in being someAvhut larger, more compact, and more deeply hol- 

 low^ed; the usual lining of bright-yelloAV grasses is generally con- 

 spicuous; and, most important of all, the outer covering of lichens, so 

 conspicuous in nests of the eastern bird, is usually lacking or replaced 

 with some other material. Most other observers agree on these points, 

 though a number of them have reported some use of lichens. Hen- 

 shaw (1875), quoting C. E. Aiken, said : "No lichens at all are used in 

 its construction, but instead the gray dead leaves of a minute plant 

 that grows abundantly in the mountains is often found upon the out- 

 side." I am inclined to think that this ,may be the material that has 

 been mistaken for lichens; also, bits of chrj'salids or cocoons, fre- 

 quentlj' used, look much like pale gray lichens. HoAvever, most nests 

 are Avell camouflaged with a great profusion of spider webs with which 

 the nest is bound to the branch, or Avith other material that matches 

 the branch. Another point of difference is that some nests of the 

 Avestern bird are more or less lined with various bird feathers, some- 

 times brightly colored ones; these, so far as I know, are never used by 

 the eastern bird. 



Many years ago RidgAvay (1877) made the surprising statement 

 that "the nest of this species, as is Avell knoAvn, differs A'ei*}' remark- 

 ably from that of C [on topics] virens^ being almost invariably placed, 

 in the crotch between nearly upright forks, like that of certain 

 Empidonaces^ as E. minimus and E. obscurus, instead of being sad- 

 dled on a horizontal branch." 



