HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER 225 



Colorado — Hollj^, September 19. Kansas — Lawrence, September 21. 

 Oklahoma — Kenton, September 26. Texas — Somerset, October 2. 

 Manitoba — Shoal Lake, September 25. Minnesota — Hutchinson, 

 October 8. Iowa — Emmctsburfj, October 28. Ontario — Toronto, 

 October 4. Michigan — Detroit, October 14. Ohio — Lakeside, Octo- 

 ber 13. Indiana — Carlisle, October 12. Missouri — Jasper County, 

 October 20. Kentucky — Bowling Green, October 21. Louisiana — 

 Soutliwest Reef Light, October 23. New Brunswick — Scotch Lake, 

 September 24. New Hampshire — Jefferson, October 3. Massachu- 

 setts — Dennis, October 16. Connecticut — Hartford, October 7. New 

 York — Orient, October 15. New Jersey — Milltown, October 1. Dis- 

 trict of Columbia — Washington, October 1. Virginia — Lexington, 

 September 20. North Carolina — Piney Creek, September 17. 

 Georgia — Athens, October 12. 



Casual records. — There is an old record (previous to 1884) of the 

 occurrence of the least flycatcher at an elevation of 1,500 feet near 

 Guajango, Peru; one was taken in March 1904 on Grand Cayman 

 Island, between Jamaica and western Cuba; and one was recorded 

 on June 15, 1922, at Ellis Bay, Anticosti Island, Quebec. 



Egg dates. — Illinois : 12 records, June 4 to 20. 



Massachusetts: 35 records. May 26 to June 17; 17 records, June 1 

 to 9, indicating the height of the season. 



New York: 30 records, May 24 to June 27; 16 records. May 24 to 

 June 27. 



EMPIDONAX HAMMONDI (Xantus) 



HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER 



Plate 29 



HABITS 



Three western flycatchers of the genus Empidonax form a very 

 puzzling group. The difficulty of recognizing the three species, even 

 in hand, has doubtless led to errors in identification, which must be 

 taken into account in considering the value of field observations. 

 Fortunately, habitats, nesting habits, and voices often help in field 

 identification, as w^ill be referred to later. 



As to the characters of specimens in hand, Dr. Joseph Grinnell 

 (1914b) writes: "In spite of the largely increased extent of material 

 illustrating this genus, the relative characters of Empidonax griseus, 

 Empidonax wnghti^ and Empidonax ham/mondl remain somewhat 

 subtle. * * * Xhe color differences are minute: hammondi is 

 slatiest, griseus ashiest, wHghti intermediate; ivrightl is greenest dor- 

 sally and pectorally; the outer web of outer tail-feather is distinctly 



