84 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



a quiet city street ; in a truck garden ; beside a farm house ; in pasture- 

 lands ; or on the edges of scattered woodlands. Occasionally on knolls 

 in the open country, particularly in post oaks, or in peach and other 

 orchard trees ; in metal windmill towers ; on the crossbars of telegraph 

 poles; in the iron skeletons of aerial light towers in Austin; and in 

 the iron framework of river bridges." 



While I was waiting one day for my guide to appear at a farm- 

 house, I was amused to see one of these flycatchers attempting to 

 build a nest on the wings of a windmill that was in active use; the 

 location would have been satisfactory if the wings had been stationary, 

 but unfortunately they were never still for any great length of time. 

 Each time that the windmill went into action the nest was destroyed ; 

 but the flycatchers were not dismayed, and started each time to rebuild 

 it. This happened several times while I was watching. 



Mr. Simmons (1925) says of the nest construction: "Roughly built; 

 base and sides composed largely of Indian tobacco weed and small 

 twigs, with some rootlets, weed stems, and cotton, onto which base 

 is built a nest mass of thistledown, cotton, wool, and Indian tobacco, 

 and sometimes cotton waste, corn husks, rags, and twine. Lined 

 with rootlets, horsehair, cotton, or Indian tobacco, * * * Out- 

 side, diameter 4.50 to 6.25 by 6, height 2.75 to 3. Inside, diameter 

 2.75 to 3 by 3.50, depth 1.75 to 2.25." 



Major Bendire (1895) has written quite fully on the nesting habits 

 of these flycatchers, from which I quote : 



They nest by preference in mesquite trees, less frequently in live and post 

 oaks, the thorny hackberry or granjeno (Celtis pallida), the huisache (Acacia 

 farnesiana), honey locust, mulberry, pecan, and the magnolia, as well as in 

 various small, thorny shrubs. Their nests are placed at various distances of 

 5 to 40 feet from the ground, but on an average not over 15 feet, and often 

 in very exposed situations, vrhere they can be readily seen. Occasionally, vs^hen 

 placed in trees whose limbs are well covered with long streamers of the gray 

 Spanish moss, or in shrubs overgrown with vines, they ai'e rather more difficult 

 to discover. * * * 



Nests of this species from different localities vary greatly in size and materials 

 from which constructed. The base and sides of the nest are usually composed 

 of small twigs or rootlets, cotton and weed stems (those of a low floccose, 

 woolly annual Evax profilera and Evax muUicaulu, the former growing on dry 

 and the latter on low ground, being nearly always present) ; in some sections the 

 gray Spanish moss forms the bulk of the nest, in others raw cotton, and again 

 sheep's wool ; while rags, hair, twine, feathers, bits of paper, dry grass, and even 

 seaweeds may be incorporated in the mass. * * • 



A nest taken by Dr. E. A. Mearns, United States Army, on April 29, 1893, 

 from an oak tree situated on the edge of the parade ground at Fort Clarke, 

 Texas, is mainly composed of strong cotton twine, mixed with a few twigs, 

 weed stems, and rags; even the inner lining consists mostly of twine. How 

 the female managed to use this without getting hopelessly entangled is astonish- 

 ing. The previous season's nest still remained in the same tree, and a 

 considerable quantity of twine entered also into its composition. 



