348 Farley, The Alder Flycatcher in Massachusetts. Fbct. 



The Alder Flycatcher arrives in eastern Massachusetts about 

 May 20. By the thirtieth of tlie month it has always reappeared 

 on its breeding grounds. These are bushy meadows grown (or 

 growing) up more or less thickly with alders. The lower growth 

 in such places consists of wild roses {Rosa), sweet gale {Myrica 

 gale L.), and other swamp shrubbery, together with the usual 

 mixed meadow herbage. Mingled with the alders will be young 

 swamp maples and birches and oftentimes scattering white cedars. 

 The whole forms a thick, at times almost choked, expanse of mead- 

 ow growth. The wild roses in which the Flycatcher is so fond of 

 nesting seem to be almost as much an ess'ential in its summer home 

 as the alders themselves. The bird builds its nest year after 

 year in the same favorite spot which may be of quite limited area. 

 In a small meadow in the town of Lynnfield, w'here five years 

 elapsed between the taking of two nests (June 16. 1895, and June 

 27, 1900), I recall that the second nest was placed in almost 

 identically the same spot as the first. Two other nests (of other 

 seasons) I also found in the same area, which was less than an 

 acre in extent. 



The erroneous idea^ that the Alder Flycatcher is a very shy 

 bird appears to obtain. This is due to the fact that its feeding- 

 habits rather than any inherent shyness cause it to hug closely its 

 favorite alders and other coverts. Besides keeping quite habitu- 

 ally within copse or thicket, with the general scope of its activity 

 circumscribed by at least their outer fringes, it does not as a rule 

 perch or fly high. The thick foliage of June and July aid 

 materially in its concealment, so that it is not always easy to get 

 even a momentary glimpse of the bird which may be calling and 

 flying about within a few yards. The exceptions to the general 

 rule that the Alder Flycatcher \s par exccHencc a bird of copse and 

 undergrowth are the little creature's infrequent short flights out 

 into the open, and its brief visits to some favorite vantage-point 

 above the line of foliage, for the deliverance of its harsh cry. But 

 the emphatic preachment of the small protagojiist of the alders 

 is quite as apt to be heard while the performer is perched unseen 



' This in spite of the fact that long ago the species was reported by Mr. 

 Brewster to be '' retiring but not shy." (Hist. N. A. Birds, 1874, p. 171.) 



