FLYCATCHERS 



203 



Flycatcher was found to consist of 99.95 per 

 cent, of animal food and 0.05 per cent, of vege- 

 table. 



Bees, wasps, and ants arc the statT of life of 

 the Olive-sided Flycatcher and form a large per- 

 centage of the food of each month. Beetles 

 amount to about 6 per cent., less than half of i 

 per cent, of which are useful. The bird shows a 

 very decided fondness for hive bees, but not the 

 S])ecial preference for drones manifested by 

 Kingbirds. The Olive-sided Flycatcher would 

 be a menace to the beekeeping industry, were it 

 abundant in the thickly settled portions of the 

 countrv. 



As it eats no vegetable matter worth mention- 

 ing, its record must rest on its insect food, and 

 honeybees constitute entirely too large a quota 

 for the best economic interests. At present it 

 probably docs little harm, excejit when a number 

 of the birds take up their residence in the vicinity 

 of an a])iary and make bees a part of their regular 

 diet. The food of this bird is interesting, as it 

 represents the food of a ty])ical I'lycatcher ; with 

 the exce])tion of the vegetable matter everything 

 it eats could be taken on the wing. Caterpillars, 

 spiders, and millepeds, although found in the 

 stomachs of most Flycatchers, are entirely 

 absent from that of the Olive-sided. 



COUES'S FLYCATCHER 

 Myiochanes pertinax pallidiventris (Chapman) 



A. O. U. Number 4O0 



General Description. — LciiKth, 8 inches. Upper 

 parts, deep smoke-gray ; below, light smoke-gray and 

 yellowish-white. 



Color. — Above, deep smoke-gray, the crown slightly 

 darker, witli feathers darker centrally; wings and tail, 

 grayish-brown, the outer webs of tail-feathers passing 

 into light grayish-olive or olive-grayish on edges, the 

 primaries very narrowly and indistinctly edged with 

 the same; secondaries, edged (except basally) with 

 pale grayish, sometimes approaching dull grayish-white ; 

 middle wing-coverts, margined terininally or tipped 

 with grayish-olive or buffy-grayish, the greater coverts 

 edged and tipped, or terminally margined, with same; 

 sides of head and neck similar in color to back, etc., but 

 paler, the loral region somewhat intermixed with 

 whitish; chest and sides, light smoke-gray, but usually 



sonuwhat tinged with buiify-yollowish, tlie throat 

 similar but paler, fading into dull whitish on chin; 

 center of breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, pale 

 yellowish-white, the latter usually with grayish V- 

 shaped basal or central markings ; under wing-coverts, 

 huffy; bill, dusky-brown to nearly black, yellowish 

 below ; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Saddled on branch of oak 

 or pine, from 15 to 30 feet up, closely resembling the 

 Wood Pewee's but larger; constructed of bits of vege- 

 table fiber catkins, a few dried leaves, fine grass tips, and 

 covered exteriorly with lichens fastened on with cob- 

 webs. Eggs : Generally 3, creamy-bufF wreathed with 

 browns and lilac-gray around large end. 



Distribution. — Mountains of southern and central 

 .Arizona, south into Mexico; accidental in Colorado. 



This comparatively little-seen Flycatcher oc- 

 curs chiefly in uninhabited parts of Arizona, 

 especially in pine and oak timber-growing canons 

 and gulches. Its manners are essentially Fly- 

 catcher-like though its flights are rnore extended 



and it is given to sailing about treetops. Its note 

 is like that of the Olive-sided Flycatcher, though 

 the last syllable is prolonged and delivered with 

 a rising inflection. The bird's habitat is chiefly 

 in Mexico. 



WOOD PEWEE 



Myiochanes virens (Linnccus) 



A. O. V. Xumber 4f.i Sic Color Plate fiS 



Other Names. — Pewit ; Pewee ; Pcwce Flycatcher. 



General Description. — Length. 6'^ inches. Upper 

 parts, olive : lower parts, grayish-olive and yellowish- 

 white. Tail, emarginate. 



Color. — Above, plain olive, slightly paler on rump and 

 upper tail-coverts, slightly darker on crown, where the 

 feathers are darker centrally ; tail, deep grayish-brown. 



the outer webs of feathers passing into lighter grayish- 

 brown or olive along edges ; wings, dusky, the middle 

 and greater coverts tipped with pale grayish and with 

 still paler gray terminal margins, the secondaries edged 

 (except basally) with whitish, these edgings broader on 

 inner secondaries; sides of head and neck, similar in 

 color to back, etc., but rather lighter, especially on 



