Traill's Flycatcher. 105 



TEAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 



A few species loiter and dally among the foliage in the 

 first weeks of spring, as though loath to assume the re- 

 sponsibility of rearing a fiimily; they flit in and out 

 among the leaves, uttering soft notes of love and quiet con- 

 tent, seemingly with no cares and no thought of home- 

 building. In this list we find Traill's flycatcher — a 

 small bird with bright olive back and whitish under parts, 

 with dusky wings, crossed by two grayish bars. The re- 

 tiring disposition of this gentle-spirited flycatcher, and its 

 lack of forcible notes with which to attract attention to its 

 presence, as well as its marked resemblance to several 

 congeners, have prevented the circle of its acquaintance 

 from widening in ratio to its abundance. In this locality 

 it is the most common of the flycatchers, though its 

 presence is the least remarked, owing to the more familiar 

 habits of the other species. It is known to boys who meet 

 it along the hedges as the "pewee flycatcher," and it 

 certainly resembles the pewee in general coloration and in 

 superficial habits. Its chief mannerism is an excessive 

 restlessness, which not often allows it to retain a position 

 favorable to its careful examination by the observer. 

 While the pewee, even when aware of observation, will 

 return to the same perch repeatedly after darting into 

 the air to capture its passing prey, Traill's flycatcher 

 changes its base of operation rapidly, and almost invariably 

 stations itself so that intervening foliage obstructs the 

 view of the observer. It rarely perches as high as the 

 limits of the bushes and hedges which it frequents; while 

 the pewee commonly selects an exposed position on a dead 

 or bare branch of a tree, often quite high, for its point of 

 reconnaissance. 



Traill's flycatcher is a summer resident of western 

 North America, from the Mississippi Valley (Ohio, Illi- 

 nois, and Michigan) to the Pacific. It retires beyond 

 the United States in winter, visiting Mexico and Cen- 

 tral America. It is one of the later travelers from 

 tropical climes, entering our latitude about the third week 

 of April, sometimes delaying until the first of May. Un- 



