294 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



stems. It is lined with fine dry pine needles, stiff fibrous rootlets, 

 and horsehair. The outside dimensions of the nest are 6X6iAX2y2 

 inches * * * and the inside dimensions, 31/2X334x11/2 inches." 



Charles Piper Smith (1927) reports finding two California nests 

 in deciduous trees; one was on "a drooping limb of an alder, Alnus 

 rhombifolia^ the distance from the ground about fifty feet, the lo- 

 cality a canyon floor at the eastern base of Black Mountain (Monte 

 Bello Ridge), Santa Clara County, elevation probably about 200 

 feet. * * * Coast redwoods were available in the canyon, but 

 these birds evidently used the alder by pure choice." In another 

 canyon at an elevation of about 1,800 feet he found a nest about 60 

 feet up in the top of a canyon live oak {Quercus chrysolepis) . And 

 Allan R. Phillips (1937) tells of finding a nest, near Flagstaff, Ariz., 

 "10 feet up in a small crotch against the trunk of a small Gambel 

 oak. The tree was too slender to be climbed. * * * The nest, 

 placed on the east side of the tree, was composed of twigs and yellow- 

 pine needles, with a grass lining and rim decorations of mossy, green 

 rootlets." 



Mr. Rathbun, in his notes from Seattle, Wash., says: "The nests 

 we have taken were outwardly made of small dry conifer twigs, 

 closely interlaced with coarse, dark rootlets, and all had a lining of 

 fine, black rootlets. Once, from a distance of less than 20 feet, I 

 watched one of these flycatchers at work on its nest. It lightly 

 settled upon it, then used its bill to press into the inner wall of the 

 nest the material it had brought, after which the bird settled in the 

 nest and by a circular motion of its body smoothed the material into 

 place; and while this was taking place, it continued to give its note 

 in a soft key." 



Eggs — The olive-sided flycatcher lays almost invariably three eggs, 

 occasionally as many as four; Bendire (1895) says that about one 

 set in 20 contains four eggs; I have never heard of more than four. 

 The eggs are usually ovate, rarely somewhat short-ovate or nearly 

 elongate-ovate. They are practically lusterless. They are among 

 the most beautiful of birds' eggs, especially when fresh enough for 

 the yolk to show through the delicate shell and enrich its coloring. 

 The ground color varies from creamy white to "light buff" or "pale 

 ochraceous-salmon." This is rather lightly, but conspicuously, 

 marked with small blotches or spots, usually concentrated in a ring 

 or loose wreath about the larger end, of various bright browns, such 

 as "hazel," "cinnamon," "russet," or "chestnut," and with different 

 shades of "vinaceous-drab," "cinnamon-drab," or "drab-gray," in 

 underlying spots or small blotches. 



Mr. Dixon (1920) describes his oddly marked set as follows: "The 

 ground color of the eggs is normal for the Species, being light 



