OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER 297 



fondness for hive bees, but not the special preference for drones manifested by 

 kingbirds. 



Other animal food included useful beetles, 0.45 percent; harmful 

 beetles, 5.79 percent; Diptera (flies), 0.88 percent; Hemiptera (bugs), 

 3.25 percent; grasshoppers, 3.36 percent of the food for two months, 

 or 1.12 percent for the season; moths, 4.13 percent; and dragonflies, 

 1.77 percent. Animal food made up 99.95 percent of the whole. Tlie 

 remainder consisted of some unidentified fruit pulp, spruce foliage, 

 and rubbish. 



To partially offset the impression created above by Beal, that the 

 olive-sided flycatcher might prove to be a menace to beekeepers, W. L. 

 McAtee (1926) aptly suggests that "there can be no doubt that most 

 of the bees eaten come from the wild colonies that are so frequent in 

 woodlands, and not from hives on bee farms." As to the economic 

 relation of this flycatcher to woodlots, he says: "Insects injurious to 

 woodlands which were identified in the diet of the Olive-side were 

 carpenter ants, click beetles, adults of both flat-headed and round- 

 headed wood borers, leaf chafers, nut weevils, bark beetles, and cicadas. 

 One of the flat-headed borers {Melanophila fulvoguttata) is destruc- 

 tive to hemlock and spruce, while another {Asemum moefituni) attacks 

 pine, spruce and other trees." 



Behavior. — The olive-sided flycatcher seems to prefer the solitudes 

 of the forests to the vicinity of human habitations; the experience 

 with it in Berkeley, Calif., was, however, a notable exception to the 

 rule. In its wilderness home each pair establishes a definite territory 

 from which it drives away any other individuals of its own species 

 and often shows hostility to some birds of other species. Verdi Burtch 

 tells me that Clarence F. Stone saw a scarlet tanager drive one of 

 these flycatchers from one of its perches; but the flycatcher returned 

 later and drove the tanager away. It would probably attack any 

 hawk, crow, or jay that came too near its nest, though no such case 

 .seems to be recorded. On the approach of a human intruder, it 

 starts its alarm note, quip^ quip, quip, repeating it constantly as it 

 flies nervously about, alighting first on one tree and then on another 

 within its chosen territory. From such actions the collector realizes 

 that the nest is near and begins to hunt for it. If he climbs the tree 

 to examine or rob the nest, the bird's activities are intensified ; both 

 birds may now attack the intruder, flying about excitedly, snapping 

 their beaks, screaming incessantly, and even darting down at and 

 almost striking the man's head. Some less bold birds are content to 

 perch on nearby trees and scold, with crests erected, bills clicking, 

 and tails wagging. 



The olive-sided flycatcher is oftenest seen perched erect on the top- 

 most spire of some tall tree in it« chosen haunts, where its presence 

 is first detected by its loud and striking notes long before it is seen. 



