382 THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYC/'^CHER. 



more, and is, forluiiatcly, (|iiilc iiiifc>r(^ctl;il)lf. Uuih in acci-nt and energy 

 it sccnis to set the pace for several of the lesser Tyrants. Of course, like 

 many another of the voices of Nature, its' interpretation de|)eiKls a good 

 deal u|Kjn the mood of the listener. Heard on a dull day at sea-level it 

 may souml dismal enough, but lieard in the sharp air of the mountains it 

 becomes an e.xultant note. There are miners in the heart of the Cascades 

 who regard tlie bri.sk evening greeting of this Flycatcher as one of the 

 comi)ensations of solitude. "Three ihccrs!" the bird seems to say to one 

 who returns from the silent bowels of the earth and grasps again the facts 

 of outer life. 



Borcalis is a bird of the tree-tops and nearer you cannot come, save 

 in nesting season, when caution is thrown to the winds and a study in 

 morbid ]isychology is all too easy. The birds place a rustic saucer of inter- 

 woven black rootlets and mosses on the upper side of a horizontal branch, 

 whether of jiemlock, fir. or cedar, and, as often as otherwise, at moderate 

 heights. They are very uneasy at the presence of strangers and flit alxjut 

 with a restless, tittering, cry, Iczv-lczi.; Icw-tcu; or tc-tv-texv-lc-iv, a sound 

 which .strangely excites the blood of the oologist. Once the nesting tree is 

 made out and the ascent begim, the birds are beside themselves with rage, 

 and dash at the intruder with angry cries, wliidi really stimulate endeavor 

 where they are intended to discourage it. 



How fatal is the beauty of an egg-shell! There be those of us who 

 have drunk so oft of this subtle potion that the hand goes out instinctively 

 to grasp the proffered cup. Resides, the product of an Olive-side's skill 

 is of a very special kind — a rich cream-colored oval, warmed by a hint of 

 living flesh and si)lotched with saucy chestnut. It is irresistible! Rut. 

 Ix^ys. don't do it! W'e are old topers ourselves: public sentiment is against 

 us. and our days are numbered. It is right that it should be so. Resitlcs 

 that, and speaking in all seriousness now. while it is desirable and necessary 

 that a few re])rescntative collections of natural history should 1k' built 

 up for the l^ublic use. it docs not follow that the public ginMl is secured 

 by the accumulation of endless private hordes of bird's-eggs — whose logical 

 end. in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, is the scrai)-hea|). You are 

 probably one of the ninety-nine. Tliink twice before you start a collection 

 and then — don't I 



