208 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



saplings or bushes S to 20 feet up, iu deep woods ; 

 rather carelessly constructed of grass, bark shreds, 

 weed fibers, cocoons and catkins and lined with finer 

 grass. Eggs : 2 or 3. pale yellow-buff, boldly specked 

 and spotted around large end with chestnut-brown. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, north to Long 

 Island, lower Hudson Valley, central New York, south- 



ern Ontario, southern Michigan, casually to Massa- 

 chusetts and Connecticut ; west to middle portion of 

 Great Plains, from Nebraska to Texas ; breeding south- 

 ward to northern Florida and thence through Gulf 

 States to Texas ; southward in winter to the Bahamas 

 and Cuba and through eastern Mexico, Central 

 America, and Panama to Colombia and Ecuador. 



The Acadian Flycatcher is one of the tamest 

 of the wood Flycatchers, but becatise of its fond- 

 ness for thickets and soHtude, and its compara- 

 tive inactivity, it is lii<ely to be overlooked. A 

 North Carolina observer noted its apparent lik- 



Photo by A. A. Alltii 



AN ACADIAN FLYCATCHER INCUBATING 



ing for rhododendron growths near streams in 

 that State, and another observer found the bird 

 plentiful and calling freely in the great Oketi- 

 nokee Swamp in Georgia, where its preference 

 for solitude must have been pretty thoroughly 

 satisfied. It perches generally not more than 

 twenty feet from the ground. Its common call- 

 note resembles the syllable pcct and is uttered 

 at brief intervals and emphasized by a flirting of 

 the tail. 



Another note, which suggests the syllables 

 K<icky-iip, seems to be articulated with some 

 effort, with the bill elevated and the wings vibrat- 

 ing. One observer refers to the " startling excla- 

 mations and mysterious wing whistlings " of the 

 bird; but the latter demonstration may be what 

 Dr. Chapman refers to when he says: "A rarer 

 note may be heard when the bird makes a short, 

 fluttering flight. It resembles the soft murmur- 

 ing of whistling wings." 



Originally the name "Acadian " was given to 

 all the members of the genus Empidonax of the 

 Flycatchers. As the ornithologists progressed in 

 their investigations, the other species were sepa- 

 rated one by one from the Acadian. This state- 

 ment explains the curious fact that no Acadian 

 Flycatcher, despite its name, is found in the land 

 of Evangeline. 



The habits of the Acadian Flycatcher do not 

 lead it to the garden or orchard, and its food has 

 little direct economic interest. It does not catch 

 many useful insects and, as it does not feed upon 

 any product of cultivation, it may well be con- 

 sidered as one of those species whose function 

 is to help keep the great flood of insect life down 

 to a level compatible with the best interests of 

 other forms of life. 



TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER 

 Empidonax trailli trailli {Audubon) 



A. O. U. Number 466 



General Description. — Length. 5'/. inches. Upper 

 parts, olive ; under parts, brownish-gray and white. 



Color. — Above, plain olive, the crown and hindneck 

 usually very slightly grayer or less brownish than 



back, etc., the rump and upper tail-covcrts paler and 

 more brownish-olive, the outer web of lateral feathers 

 paler, sometimes approaching dull whitish; wings, 

 darker grayish-brown, the middle and greater coverts 



