290 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



only indication of the bird's presence being an occasional nervous 

 peep in the dense surrounding thicket. The eggs are of a rich 

 creamy color, sparsely speckled over the entire surface, or 

 wreathed around the larger end with rich brown or burnt sienna 

 color. 



Robert Ridgway identified specimens taken in Winnebago 

 county June 29, 1897, and Johnson county in May, 1892 (Mus. 

 No. 14507), as trailli. 



202. (466a). Empidonax trailli alnoruni Brewster. Alder V\y- 



catcher. 



This is the common Traill Flycatcher of the eastern and north- 

 ern states, "difficult if not impossible to distinguish from the 

 western stock form ... its western limits can not be given with 

 precision, because this form shades into trailli proper in the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley" (Coues). Kumlien and HoUister state: "Mr. 

 Brewster has kindly examined our small series of this group and 

 pronounced the birds of late May and June typical alnorum, sug- 

 gesting that it is no doubt the breeding form. He writes that it 

 is interesting to find typical examples of the two forms in the 

 same locality" (Birds of Wis., 1902, p. 83). 



Prof. Charles R. Keyes writes from Mt. Vernon (Linn county): 

 E. t. alnorum — from two to three pairs regularly nest in a thicket 

 less than 'a half-acre in extent along Abbey Creek, one mile north 

 of town. The four eggs are laid by June 22. Have never found 

 them elsewhere but once, when a nest was found in hazel brush a 

 half-mile further down the creek. The birds have occupied the 

 little thicket mentioned for at least ten years." 



203. (467). Empidonax minimus Baird. Least Flycatcher. 

 The Least Flycatcher is a common or abundant migrant in all 



parts of the state, but appears to be a summer resident and breeds 

 commonly only north of the middle line of the state. Trippe, 

 however, gives the species as "breeding in large numbers in Ma- 

 haska county, far less abundant in Decatur" (Proc. Bost.Soc, xv., 

 1872, p. 234). Dr. Trostler reports it as a "rare summer resi- 

 dent" (Pottawattamie); Peck, as an "infrequent breeder, mostly 

 in open woods or about houses" (Blackhawk); Giddings, as a "tol- 

 erably^ common summer resident" (Jackson). The observers from 

 southern Iowa unanimously report it as a migrant. In Winne- 



