356 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



In Washington Territory this bird appears to be somewhat more common 

 than in other portions of the United States. Dr. Suckley obtained a speci- 

 men at Fort Steilacoom, July 10, 1856. It was not very abundant about 

 Puget Sound, and showed a preference for shady thickets and dense foliage, 

 where it was not easily shot. Dr. Cooper speaks of it as very common, 

 arriving early in May and frequenting the borders of woods, where, stationed 

 on the tops of tall dead trees, it repeats a loud and melancholy cry through- 

 out the day, during the whole of summer. It frequents small pine groves 

 along the coast, and also in the interior, and remains until late in September. 



In California Dr. Cooper found this species rather common in the Coast 

 Eange towards Santa Cruz, where they had nests in May ; but as these were 

 built in high inaccessible branches, he was not able to examine them. He 

 also found it at Lake Tahoe in September. 



This species was only met with by Mr. Eidgway in the pine woods high 

 up on the East Humboldt, Wahsatch, and Uintah Mountains. There it was 

 breeding, but was nowhere abundant, not more than two pairs being ob- 

 served within an area of several miles. They preferred the rather open pine 

 woods, and were shot from the highest branches. Their common note was a 

 mellow pucr, much like one of the whistling notes of the Cardinal Grosbeak 

 (Cardinalis virginianus). 



Mr. Dresser states it to be not uncommon near San Antonio in the winter 

 season. Dr. Heermann mentions that two specimens of this species were 

 obtained, to his knowledge, on tlie Cosumnes Eiver, in California. It has 

 been taken in winter, in tlie State of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard, and 

 has been met with at Jalapa, and even as far south as Guatemala. 



A single specimen of this bird was taken, August 29, 1840, at Nenortalik, 

 Greenland, and sent to Copenhagen. 



The eggs of this species measure .86 of an inch in length by .62 in breadth, 

 and are rounded at one end and sharply tapering at the other. The ground- 

 color is a rich cream-color with a roseate tint. They are beautifully marked 

 around the larger end with a ring of confluent spots of lilac, purple, and 

 red-brown. These vary in number and in the size of this crown, but the 

 markings are invariably about the larger end, as in Contopus mrens. 



Contopus pertinax, Cabanis & Heine. 



MEXICAN OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 



Contopus pertinax. Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. II, p. 72. — Sclater, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 

 231. — CouES, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866, 60. —Elliot, Illust. B. Am. I, pi. viii. — Cooper, 

 Geol. Surv. Calif. Orn. I, 324. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 324. Contopus horealis, 

 Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 301 ; 1859, 43 ; Ibis, 1859, 122, 440. 



Sp. Char. Nearly uniformly olive-gray, lighter on the throat and abdominal region, 

 where is a strong tinge of ochraceous-yellow ; feathers of the wings with faintly lighter 



