so NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



is finished with lichens on the outside Hke that of the Hummingbird's, or 

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher's nest. The principal materials are fine bark- 

 strips, rootlets and grasses. The elevation from the ground ranges from 

 eight to fifteen feet, but I have found them more frequently built high up 

 in tall trees. 



321. Western Wood Pewee — contopus richardsoni. Similar to those 

 of the Eastern bird. Nesting said to be different. 



Hab. Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 



322. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher — empidonax flaviventris. Rosy- 

 white or creamy tint, spotted with a light shade of reddish-brown, chiefly 

 about the larger end, usually four in number, size from .65 to .68 in length 

 by .51 to .54 in breadth. A common bird in woodland, swamps and 

 thickets in Eastern United States. Breeds probably from the Middle 

 States northward. The nest is placed in stumps, in mossy banks, logs, 

 in the tangle or roots of fallen trees a few feet from the ground ; it is bulky 

 and composed of a mass of moss, withered grass, lined with a few black 



rootlets and grass stems. Hab. Eastern United States and British Provinces. 



323. Western Yellow-bellied Flycatcher — empidonax difficilis. 

 Creamy-white, spotted and finely speckled with cinnamon or reddish- 

 brown, in some quite thickly about the larger end, often forming a com- 

 plete ring, again well sprinkled over the entire surface; three or four, 

 sometimes five in number. Mr. O. W. Emerson, of Hay wards, Cal. , 

 says this variety nests in hollows in banks along creeks, in natural cavities 

 of trees and among the roots of fallen ones, and in some of the most out- 

 of-the-way places, from a tall Australian gum tree to the corner of a rail 

 fence! Nest composed of shreds of roots, dead leaves, cob-webs, bits of 

 fine grass, and lined with finer grasses and a few feathers. 



Hab. Western United States. 



324. Acadian Flycatcher — empidonax acadicus. Light yellowish- 

 buff, with a decided flesh-color tint when fresh, sparsely spotted with 

 light brown ; two or three in number, and I have found nests with four 

 eggs, but this is rarely the case. Dr. Jones, in his "Nests and Eggs of 

 the Birds of Ohio," gives the measurements to be from .70 to .79 in length 

 by .53 to .59 in breadth. The eggs are not distinguishable from those of 

 trailli. The Acadian Flycatcher is abundant in the Middle and Western 

 States in land timbered with large trees, and overgrown with bushes, low 

 trees, vines and weeds. They love to penetrate the depth of the forest, 

 and delight to rear their young in the most quiet and gloomy spots. I 

 have most always found the nest suspended in a fork of small 

 twigs near the extremity of a low, horizontal limb. It is seldom placed 



