434 LAND BIRDS 
Nest : Saucer-shaped ; of wiry materials ; fastened to horizontal branches 
of coniferous trees, 40 to 60 feet from the ground. 
Eggs: 3; creamy, spotted at large end with brown and lavender. Size 
0.90 X 0.65. 
ALTHOUGH nowhere very numerous, the Olive-sided 
Flycatcher is found throughout the forest and moun- 
tainous regions of California. It prefers the edge of the 
timber to the dense wood, and stays along the course of 
streams or around small Jakes in the higher altitudes. 
Like all flycatchers, it feeds on winged insects caught in 
the air, — moths, butterflies, dragonflies, June bugs, and 
beetles. Perched upon a dead branch, one of these 
birds will catch two dozen insects in as many swift 
dartings out into the air, always returning to the same 
lookout to eat them. 
About the middle of May the females arrive from the 
South, and then the call-notes grow louder and merrier. 
Heard through the quiet hours of dusk or in the silence 
of a moonlight night, they are singularly like the plain- 
tive notes of our wood pewee. But this is not all the 
song the little lover can sing, for when he goes a-wooing 
in the fresh coolness of the morning he trills a right 
merry lay. What though it be short and of limited 
range, the glory of the sunrise and the joy of love are in 
it. It is a beautiful world! He is glad to be in it, and 
as you listen you are glad to be in it too. When you 
hear this warble, you may know that somewhere in the 
top of a tall spruce tree a wee nest is being woven of 
fine hair-like rootlets, small twigs, and long green moss. 
Outside it will likely be covered with lichens, and inside 
lined with moss. So securely will it be woven to the 
