106 The Birds of Albany County 



the first of April until the first of October, and builds the 

 same kind of a nest in a fruit tree, a maple, or the fork of most 

 any other tree, where the foliage is thick. He has rather a 

 snappy personality on account of his way of suddenly darting 

 from his lookout and seizing small winged insects in the air. 

 He returns instantly to his perch, swallows the fly, flirts his 

 tail, utters a brisk che-bec, and is ready for further business. 

 He has a few gurgling notes, a single call, and is in fact a 

 typical example of the Flycatcher family, although he is the 

 smallest of the tribe. 



Alder Flycatcher. — Empidonax traillii alnorum. 6.09 



Rare Summer Resident 



Field marks. — Under parts grayish-white, washed lightly with 

 pale yellow; upper parts dark olive-green; two dull-white 

 wing-bars; slightly larger than the Least Flycatcher; 

 manners similar. 



A powerful field-glass or a gun are the only articles 

 that will aid one to differentiate between this bird and the 

 Chebec, unless one can learn the calls of the two birds, which 

 are dissimilar. Alnorum has only recently been given a place 

 by itself in our avifauna, the bird in 1895 not having been 

 given its definite status. It is wilder and more retiring than the 

 Least Flycatcher and is rarely seen away from moist, wooded 

 places. 



The nest is not quite so finely built as that of minimus 

 and is placed in the crotch of a low bush; eggs, four, creamy 

 white, lightly spotted. 



