YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. 265 



Gexus EMPIDONAX Cabanis. 

 EMPIDONAX FLAVIVENTRIS Baikd. 



190. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. (Mtl) 



Above, olive-greeu, clear continiioiis and uniform as in aradicu'^, ov even 

 l)righter ; below, not merely yello>rish, as in the succeeding, but emphatically 

 ydlotr, bright and pure on the belly, shaded on the sides and anteriorly with 

 a paler tint of the color of the back ; eye-rings and wing-markings, yellow ; 

 imder mandible, yellow ; feet, l)lack. In respect of color, this species differs 

 materially from all the rest ; none of them, even in their autumnal yellowest, 

 quite match it. Size of fraillii or rather less ; feet, pro])ortioned as in 

 aradifiix; bill, nearly as in miiiiiinis, but rather larger; hist quill, usually equal 

 to sixth. 



Hab. — Eastern North America to the Plains, and from Southern Labrador 

 south through Eastern Mexico to Panama, breeding from the Northern States 

 northward. 



Nest, in a mossy ))ank, composed mostly of moss, with a few twigs and 

 withered leaves, and lined with black wiry rootlets and diy gi-ass. 



Eggs, four, creamy-white, spotted and blotched with red<lish-brown and a 

 few black markings chiefly near the larger end. 



Several of the .small Flycatchers resemble each other so closely 

 that it is often ditticult for the general observer to identify them 

 cori'ectly. The clear yellow of the under parts of the present species 

 serves to distinguish it from the others, but it is everywhere scarce 

 and little known except to collectors. 



Near Hamilton, I have noticed one or two every spring, and some- 

 times the same number in the fall. During the summer it has not 

 been observed. 



It is only within the past live years that correct information has 

 been obtained regarding the nest and eggs of this species, one of the 

 first and best descriptions being given by Mr. Purdie in the Nuttall 

 Bulletin for October, 1878. The nest in this case was placed among 

 the roots of an upturned tree. 



All the nests I have seen described have Ijeen found in Maine, 

 but the species will no floubt yet be found l)reeding in Ontario and 

 elsewhere in the intei'ior. 



In the " Birds of Manitoba," Mr. Thompson has the following : 

 "Duck Mountain, June 11th, 188-1. — Shot a Flycatcher, which was 

 uttering continually a note like ^ chee blie.' It was all over of a 

 greenish color, but yellow on the belly. It answers fairly well the 



