300 TIIK HAMMOND I-I.VC.\TClIEU. 



No. 130. 



HAMMONDS I LYCATCHKR. 



A. ( •. I'. Nil. 4t»8. HmpiJonax hammondi i Xantiis). 



Synonym. — Diktv Ijtti.i: I-'lvcatcukk. 



Description. — Adult: Above tilivc-gray inclining to asliy on foreparts, — 

 color coiitiniRil c.n sules, throat and breast well ilowii, only slightly ])aler than back; 

 remaining,' umliTparts yellowish in varions degrees, or sonietinies scarcely tinged 

 with yellow-'; pattern and color of wing much as in prece<ling s]>ecics; outermost 

 rectrix edged with whitish on outer web; bill comjiaratively small and narrow, 

 black alH've, dusky or blackish below. Youiuj birds present a mininium of yellow 

 below and their wing-markings are huffy instead of whitish. Length alxiut 5.50 

 ( 139.7) ; wing 2.80 (71 ) ; tail 2.29 (58) ; bill .41 ( 10.5 ) ; breadth of bill at nostril 

 .ly (4.83) ; tarsus .63 ( lO). Females average a little smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size, the smallest of the four Washington 

 Liiif'idi'iiihis. and jpossibly the most difficult (where all are vexing); olive-gray 

 of plumage gives impression of blackish at ilistance ; the most sordid below of the 

 Protean (juartette; nests high in coniferous trees; eggs wliilr. 



Nesting. — Xcst: of fir-twigs, grasses and moss, lined with fine grasses, 

 vegetable down and hair ; placed on horizontal liml) of fir tree at considerable 

 heights. lijif/s: 4, pale creamy white, unmarked. .\v. size, .65 x .51 ( 16.3 x 12.7 ). 

 Season: June ; une brood. 



General Range. — Western North .\merica north to southeastern .Maska, 

 the valley of the ri)per Yukon and .Athabasca, breeding south, chiefly in the 

 mountains, to Colorado and California; south in winter thru Mexico to the high- 

 lands of Ciuatcmala. 



Range in Washington. — Sunniier resident in coniferous timber on lM>th 

 sides of the Cascmlc^. irngularly abundant and local in distribution. 



Authorities. I" Haiun)on<rs flv-catcher," lohuson. Rep. (lov. W. T. 1884 

 ( 188=;). J2.\ Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Bird.s.' \ol. II. 1895. p. ^is,f(. D'. Ra. 

 D--. P.. K( II I. 



Specimens. — C. 



n. IMM( ).\ I'l is the western .inalogue of iiiiiiiiinis. the well-known Least 

 {•"lycatcher of the I'.ast. It has uo\. however, attained any such tlistiiictness in 

 the jniblic mind, nor is it likely to except in favored l'>calities. These chosen 

 stations are quite as likely to be in the city as elsewhere; but no sooner do we 

 begin to arrive at conclusions as to its habits, notes, etc., than the bird forsakes 

 the region and i^iir work is all to do over again at some distant time. 



In the summer of 1895 I fotmd Hammond F'lycatchcrs fairly ahmidant 

 on Capitol Hill (which was then in its pin-feather stage). Twenty or thirty 

 might have been seen in the course of a morning's walk in June. Everywhere 



a. Ridgwajr ( B. of X. ft M. Am.) rrcogniirs two color phaar* of this bird, ■ while- ami a jrrllow- 

 bellied. In thr latter the pluma(r of upperpant iiKlinra more ttrongljr to olivaccoua. 



