THE WESTERN WOOD PEWEE. 293 



known, differs very remarkably from that oi Coiitopus virens, being almost inva- 

 riably placed in the crotch between nearly upright forks, like that of certain 

 Emphloiiarcs, as Empidona.r iiiinimus and Empidonax ohscurus, instead of being- 

 saddled upon a horizontal l)ranch, etc.'" 



My observations regarding tlie position of the nest of the Western Wood 

 Pewee are radically different from the nl)ove, and all that I h;ive seen, some 

 twenty in nnndjei', were saddled directly on limbs, or at points where branches 

 forked, and never in crotches; and the seventeen specimens now before me 

 were all similarly [)laced. Among these is one collected by Mr. Ridgway 

 liimself, No. 15200, United States National Mnsenm collection, collector's No. 

 1282, from Parley's Park, Jnne 25, l.S'ill, which is eatalogned in the above- 

 mentioned report as "Ne.st in crotcli of a dead aspen along stream," bnt which 

 shows distinctly that it Avas saddled on a horizontal fork and not ii/ an npriylit 

 crotch. If the Western Wood Pewee places its ne.st occasional! v in a crotch, 

 which I do not deny, it is exceptional and not the rule, and the many records 

 I have of its nesting from Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Utali, Colorado, California,, 

 and Oregon confirm my assertions fully, and show conclusivelv that this species 

 does not differ in this respect from the Wood Pewee. Tlie nests, however, do not 

 resemble those of the former; they are better and more solidly constructed, and 

 are nsnally deeper. The outer protective coating consisting of bits of lichens 

 is dispensed with; decayed grass, wood, plant fibers, down, fine strips of tli<^ inner 

 bark of juniper and sage, as well as the tops of wiry grasses, enter largely into 

 their composition. These materials are compactly interwoven, and the outside 

 of tJie nest is occasionall}^ well covered with spider webs. They are usuall}' 

 lined with fine grass, down, and plant fibers, and rarely witli a, few feathers. 

 A handsome nest. No. 24285, United States National Museum collection, taken 

 May 31, 1891, by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, United States Army, near Prescott, 

 Arizona, containing two eggs of this species and one of the Dwarf Cowbird, 

 measures 2^ inches in outer diameter by 1| inches in depth; the inner cup is 2 

 inches wide by IJ inches deep. Although the walls of this nest are very thin, 

 it is a well-built structure, and ap})ai-ently stronger than many bulkier nests. 

 It was placed on a lindj of a cottonwood tree, about 10 feet from the ground. 



Nests of this species may be looked for in pine, cottonwood, tamarack, 

 aspen, alder, maple, oak, hackberry, ash, and orchard trees, from G to 40 feet 

 from the ground. In the vicinity of Fort Klamath, Oregon, where it is a 

 common summer resident, the nests were usually jdaced on horizontal lind)s of 

 black pine trees, both on live and dead ones, and in a single instance I found 

 one in a small aspen. Among curious nesting sites the following are worth 



/ 



mentionmg: 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott found a nest and three eggs near Twin Lakes, Colorado, 

 on July 11, 1878. The nest was built where three branches crossed, in a l)rusli 

 heap, 2 feet from the ground." 



' Explor.ations of the 40tli P.arall<0, Vol. IV, 1S77. ])• •'>;'"• 

 -Biillotiu NutUll Ornitliolo^ical Club, Vol. IV, 1S7U, p. 91. 



