306 



riiK oOLoiJ.sr 



breed in smallei" numbers; on lliebaek 

 of the eider mill where their droppings 

 didn't show so much When I olle t- 

 ed they had all gone J;ur, three nests 

 and those have b^en gone no ^v these 

 tea years. Now I don't know of a nest 

 in town. Some think them much thick- 

 iu the East than formerly, but they 

 have behaved just the other way in this 

 locality. 



We boys always thought that the 

 Barn Ph(Bbe and Bridge Phoebe Avere 

 distinct varieties. The Barn Phcebe 

 built a nest flat on a beam, merely a 

 bunch of moss and a little mud, while 

 the Bridge Phtebe's establishment was 

 a compact structure fastened to the 

 perpendicular face of a stone pier or 

 wooden britige girder after the manner 

 of the Barn Swallow. It had, neces- 

 sarily; more mud and less moss than 

 the barn nest and often lasted several 

 yeai's. A few had an egg they called 

 a Shed Phoebe but that may be set 

 down to a striving for more kinds to 

 boast of and not to any real diflerence 

 in the egg. 



When the boys swallowed Tree 

 Starlings and Shed Pha'bes so freely 

 it seems queer that they wouldn't be- 

 lieve in theTi'ee Phtt'be but some didn't. 

 Only last spring a rising young collect- 

 or wanted me to stand by him in say- 

 ing that thei'e was no such thing. 

 Wasn't it just the same as a Barn 

 Phoebe, he asked? 



1 had never heard of a Flycatcher, 

 except in books, until after I had col- 

 lected quite a long time. 



It is easy to see that the bright yel- 

 low of the Goldfinch caused it to be 

 called Canary, but we didn't find the 

 nests much they came so late in the 

 season. There was always a good deal 

 of confusion between this bird and the 

 Yellow Warbler. I always supposed 

 that the Goldfinch laid a spotted egg 

 and the Warbler a blue one until I 

 found the nests myself. 



I still have a majority of my old eggs, 



and though some are cracked and .son.e 

 — like the "Potato Bird"— are "bogus", 

 I have a fondness for them above any 

 I have for later acquisitions. 



After all school day "finds" like 

 school (lay friends are the deares*^. 

 Henry R. Buck, 

 Wetherfield, Conn. 



Traill's Flycatcher- 



The retiring disposition of this gentle 

 spirited Flycatcher, and its lack of 

 forcibilify with which to attract atten- 

 tion to its presence, as well as its re- 

 semblance to several of its congeners, 

 have prevented it from forming as wide 

 an acquaintance as its ai)undancM war- 

 rants. In this locality it is the most 

 common Flycatcher though it is the 

 least studied, owing to the more famil- 

 iar habits of the other species. It is 

 known to bo3's who ramble along the 

 hedges as the "Pe-wee Flycatcher," and 

 it certainly resembles the Pewee- in 

 general coloration ami in habits, ex- 

 cept an excessive restlessness which 

 not often allows it to retain a position 

 favorable to careful examination by the 

 observer. While the Pewee will return 

 to the same percli repeatedly after dart- 

 ing into the air to capture its prey.even 

 when aware of observation. Traill's 

 Flycatcher changes its base of opera- 

 tion.o rapidly and almost invariably 

 stations itself so that there is foliage be- 

 tween it and an observer. It has no 

 lofty aspirations, rarely perching above 

 the limits of the bushes and hedges it 

 frt-quents, while the Pewee selects a 

 dead branch of a tree, often quite high 

 and. always exposed, for its point of 

 reconnoiter. 



Untrimmed hedges of two to four 

 seasons' growth appear to be their fav- 

 orite places of resort in the <lry prairie 

 regions as well as bushes bordering 

 water courses and standing in meadows 

 and low situations. Places frequented 

 by Bell's and the White-eyed Vireos are 



