386 THE WESTERN FLYCATAjfCR 



— rc;illy the easiest, liecaiise the m<)>t ci'miuini nf tlii^ ditTiciilt (^rnup ; note a soft 

 f>isz>.'it : a wtKiillaiul rechise. A(hihs always inure vellow tlian /;. Iraillii, from 

 which it is not otherwise certainly distinguishable alielfi (save hy note). 



Nesting.— .\ est : placed anywhere in forest or ab<jut shaded clitTs. ciiiefly at 

 lower levels; usually well constructed of soft green moss, line grasses, fir neeilles 

 and hemp. /;</.'/-<. 3 i>r 4, <lull creamy white, s])aringly spotted and dotted or 

 blotched with cinnamon and jjinkish brown, chiefly alxiiit larger end. .\v. size 

 .()6 .\ .52 ( 16.8 X 13.21. Season: May i-.|uly i ; one or two broods. 



General Range. — ^W'estern North .America from the eastern base of the 

 Rocky MMuntains to the racilic. breeding north to Sitka and south chiefly in the 

 moinitaiiis to ncirtluTii I.tnver California and northern Mexico; south in winter 

 into Mexico. 



Range in Washington. — t'ouunon sumnicr resident in timbered sections 

 thruoiit ilu- State. 



Migrations. — Sf'iiiui: Seattle-Tacoma, .\])ril 13. f'all: c. Sept. i. 



Authorities. — l'.iii{>idonax tiitJicilis. Baird, Ke]). I'ac. K. R. Surv. IX. i8;8, 

 p. i.).^ •C'atal. X... 5020." L. D'. Ra. Ss'. Ss--. 1!. K. 



Specimens, d'. of W.I P. Prov. P.. P.X. ]'.. 



PIJvASF, observe the scientific name, ilifficilis. that is, difticult. There 

 is a delicate irony about the use of this term as a distinctive apjiellation for 

 one of the "jjnat kintjs," for, surely, the plural. luiif<i(iniiiui\<! difficilcs. would 

 coiiiprcheiKl tliein all. There is .something, indeed, to he learned from the 

 notes of these little Flycatchers, and the fir.st year the author studied them 

 seriously he supjjosed he had a sure clew to their specific unraveling. Hut 

 that was in the freshmen year of Empidonaxology. In coming up for '"final 

 exams." lie confesses to knowing somewhat less alniut them. 



The biirl, also, is well called Western; f<ir however dillicult the genus, wc 

 know at least that diffiiilis (speaking seriously now) is the commonest S|)ecies; 

 that it apjiears under more varied conditions and enjoys a more general dis- 

 tribution than anv other sjjecies of Empid<inax in the West. The bird is, also, 

 the first to arrive in the spring, returning to the I;ititude of Seattle alx'itt the 

 mi<lille of .\])ril, or when the yellow-green racemes of the Large-leafed Maple 

 (Acer vnicrophylUivi) are first shaken out to the breeze. The little fay keeps 

 well up in the trees, occupying central positions rather than exjxised out|)osts; 

 and so perfectlv do his colors blend in with the tender hues of the new foliage 

 that we hear him twenty times to once we see Iiim. 



The notes are little explosive sibilants fenced in by initial ami final "p" or 

 "t" sounds. If one prints them they are not at all to be vocalized, but only 

 whispered or hissed, pssscci. psssccit. f>ssxvil. or pisxvil. Other variations are 

 sc a-7rit, slowlv and listlessly; cln'tif'. briskly; husliclitlif>. a fairy sneeze in 

 Russian. One becomes familiar with these tiny cachinalions, and announces 

 the Western Flvcatcber unseen with some degree of cotifidence. Rut the way 

 is beset with dangers and surprises. Once, in June, at a jioint <in Lake Chelan. 



