39-' 



Till-; WKK 



-.11 r ri.VLAicriEu 



more or less pale Ik'Iow and ilii^ky tipped. Voiiiiy birds arc whitish IkIow and the 

 wing-hands are Iniffy as in otlK-r s])cciis. Lcngtit abont 5.75 < i-\(>^: wing 2/*) 

 (f>«i ; tail J.40 (T)! ) ; hill .47 ( 12) ; tarsus .71 ( 181. 



Recojtnition Marks. — W'arhkr size; |)rcvailing gray colDration : whiti-h cyc- 

 ring: excessively retiring hahit>. 



Nesting. — Sest: of heinj), bark-strips, etc., softly lined; built in u])right 

 crotch of bush. Egys: 4 or 5. white, unmarked. .\v. size. .'>S x .52 1 17.3 x 13.2 1. 

 Season: June; one brood. 



General Range. — Western L"nite«l Slate> and southern liritish Columbia, 

 breeding in Transition and Canadian life-zones, south to southern .Arizona and 

 east to Rocky Mountains; .south in winter thni southern California an<l Mexico. 



.Authorities. Dawson, .\uk. \ ol. Xl\ . .\i)r. iS<)7. p. 17O. 



Specimens. — I'ruw C. 



H!kl)-.\l"k.\li)-OF-HIS-SII.\l)()\\ is the name this shy recluse de- 

 serves. The few seen in Washington have always been skulking in the 

 dejjlhs of brush patches, or in dumps of thorn bushes, and they seem t<j 

 dread nothing so much as the human eye. For all they keep s<> close to 

 cover they move about restlessly and are never still long enough to alTord 

 anv satisfaction to the beholder. 



The only note 1 have ever heard it utter (and this repe.itedly by different 

 individuals) was a soft li(|uid s'wil. Hut .Major I'.endire say> of its occur- 

 rence at Fort Klamath in Oregon: "I do not consider this species as noisy 

 as the Little Flycatcher [E. traillii] which was nearly as common, hut its 

 notes are verv similar; in fact they are not easily distinguishable, but are 

 given with less vigor than those of the former, while in its actions it is 

 fullv as energetic and sprightly as any of the species of the geiuis Einpi- 



doHO.Y." 



Wright's l'"lycatcher affects higher altitudes than d<> the other species 

 during the nesting season. The nest is i)laced at heights ranging from two 

 to twenty feet, and is built in upright forks of bushes, or against the trunks 

 of small saplings. Willows, alders, aspens, buck-brush, and service berry are 

 common hosts. Perhaps the only nesting record for Washington consists 

 of a set of four fresh eggs taken by myself fmm a draw on the side of 

 Boulder Mountain overlooking the Stehekin \'alley, on May 30, 1896. The 

 nest hail been deserted because of a brush fire which had swept the draw, 

 but it was uninjiued: and the situation, an aMer fi>rk eight feet up, ti^gether 

 with the Ti/n'/(- eggs. ma<le identification certain. 



