288 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
before considered rare. And this is not merely because begin- 
ners set too high a value on all common objects, but because 
their observation, on being cultivated, is greatly increased. It 
has, however, been said, somewhat sarcastically, that inexperi- 
enced students see more rare birds and nests than an expe- 
rienced naturalist can ever find. 
(C) ¥FLAviventris. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 
(Not common in New England.) 
(a). About 53 inches long. Above, olive-green; sides, 
shaded with the same ; otherwise beneath, decided yellow. Lower 
mandible, eye-ring, wing-bars, etc., yellowish (or even yellow). 
Tail even or rounded. 
(6). Dr. Brewer found a nest of this species which closely 
resembled that of the Indigo Bird, at Grand Menan, near the 
shore, ‘‘about two feet from the ground, placed in the fork of 
a bush.” The eggs were white. ‘Those procured by Mr. 
Boardman were sprinkled with minute dots of reddish-brown. 
Their measurement is °68 X *52 of an inch.” Two eggs in my 
collection measure about -75 X ‘55 of an inch, and are pure 
white, unmarked. 
(c). The Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are the rarest members 
of their family in New England, and, though their distribution 
is probably similar to that of Traill’s Flycatcher, yet they are 
apparently in no district very common. I have rarely found 
them near Boston, and generally have seen only two or three 
in June or the latter part of May. There is little to observe, 
other than their shyness, their fondness for shrubbery and wet 
lands, their low and characteristic note (approached only by 
one of the Goldfinches which is rarely heard), and the occa- 
sional flirting of their tail. Mr. Maynard’s notes are very 
interesting. He says: ‘‘On May 31, 1869, I shot the first 
specimen I had ever seen living; the next day (June Ist) I 
took eight of both sexes in a few hours! Between this time 
and the 10th I took two or three more. I do not doubt that 
it has occurred in previous seasons, but, being unaccustomed 
to its low note,—whieh is like the syllable Pea very plaintively 
