THE 'I'KAIl.l. FI.VCATCHER. 389 



lliey obtain rouglily afield, in a gnnip where every Hoating mote of ditlerence 

 is gladlv welojmed. Tlie Traill Flycatcher, moreover, is a lover of the half- 

 open situations, hnshy rather than limhered. of clearings, low thickets, and 

 river banks. Unlike its congeners, ii will follow a stream oiu npon a desert; 

 and a spring, which gladdens a few lumdred yards of willows and cratfcgi in 

 some nook of the bnnch-grass hills, is snre to nnmhcr among its snninier 

 boarders at least one i)air of Traill Flycatchers. Tiiis partiality for water- 

 courses does not. however, jjrevcnt its frequenting dry hillsides in western 

 Washington rmd the borders of mountain meadows in the Cascades. 



Traill's I'Kcaiclier i> a lardy migrant, for it arrives not earlier than the 

 20th of Ma\-. and frequently not before June ist. In 1809. ^''f '•''"'' '''"' ""' 

 appear at Ahtanum. in Vakima County, until the 14th of June: and it hecanu- 

 common immediately thereafter. This bird is restless, energetic, and pugna- 

 cious to a fault. It p(}sts on conspicuous places, the topmost twig of a 

 ?\ringa bush, a willow, or an aspen, making frequent outcries, if the mood 

 is on. and darting nimbi \- after passing insects. During the nesting season 

 it pounces on passing birds of whatever size and dri\es them out of bounds. 

 It is not always so hardy in the presence of man. ;in<l if pressed too closely 

 will whisk out of sight for good and all. 



The notes of the Little Flycatcher, as it used to be called, arc various and 

 not always distinctive. Particularly, there is one style which cannot be dis- 

 tinguished from the commonest note of the Hammond Flycatcher, stvitchoo. 

 sii'ccchcii', or unblushingly, C7vccbcii', czi'ccbczv, ::zzi'cet. Other notes, deliv- 

 ered sometimes singly and sometimes in groups, are pisoo; szvit'oo. sweet, 

 szi'it'oo; Swee. hiitip. kittip: llzvit or hooit. softly. 



Nesting begins late in June and fresh eggs may be expected about the 

 4th of July. Xests are placed characteristically in upright forks of willows, 

 alder-berrv bushes, roses, etc. They are usually compact and artistic struc- 

 tures of dried grasses, hemp (the inner bark of dead willows) and ])lant- 

 down. lined with fine grasses, horse-hair, feathers and other soft substances. 

 Xot infrequently the nests are placed over water: and low elevations of. say. 

 two or three feet from the ground ajjpear to prevail westerly. .\ \'akima 

 Counlv nest, taken July loih. containing two eggs, was half saddled upon, 

 half sunk into the twigs of a horizontal willow branch one and a half feet 

 above running water, and had to be reached by wading. » 



Incubation lasts twelve days, and the babies require as much more time 

 to get a-wing. Rut by September isl. tickets are bought, grijis are packed — 

 or, no! think of being able to (ravel without luggage — goodbyes are said: 

 and it's "Ilcis^hho I fur Mexico!" 



