^°'j^y^^n Farley, The Alder Flycatcher in Massachusetts.. 'lC\ 



often grow from the ground independently of each other, but 

 which will be sometimes members of one bush, forming in this 

 case a long crotch or fork. When the slender shoots or sprays 

 are distinct, springing separately from the ground, but growing 

 close together at different inclinations, they furnish at best but an 

 indifferent support to the nest. The general effect of the nest of 

 the Alder Flycatcher thus placed is that of a somewhat loose, 

 somewhat unfinished, not very securely fastened structure. The 

 enlisting of separate, independent sprays in support of the nest is 

 a marked feature of the Alder Flycatcher's nest architecture. 

 One spray is usually superfluous, being only slightly tied to the 

 nest and lending a support which is more apparent than real. 

 But this feature seems to be an essential in the bird's architec- 

 tural scheme and is almost always present. 



The nest itself is in its body a fairly compact but not very neat 

 structure. It is composed almost wholly of fine dried grasses 

 with lining of the same material but of a finer (sometimes of the 

 finest) sort. Some nests have in addition to the grasses fibrous 

 strips of Asdepias woven around and through their structure. In 

 one case I noticed on the outside of a nest some weather-worn 

 material from a tent caterpillar's web. The outside of the nest 

 always shows more or less loose odds and ends in the shape of 

 long, narrow grasses and Asdepias strips 'stringing ' down below 

 or projecting in various directions. This unfinished appearance 

 of the lower outside of the nest, although varying in degree in 

 different examples, invariably characterizes the Alder Flycatcher's 

 style of architecture. Together with the peculiar manner of 

 support of the nest, it so strongly characterizes the structure that 

 he who runs may read. The nest is unmistakable, even without 

 eggs, and whether old or new. I have noted two types of nests 

 — one, large, round, and thick-walled with diameter great in pro- 

 portion to depth but still not a shallow structure; the other, 

 smaller and shallower, inclining more to the sparrow-style, being 

 of coarser construction within and without. 



A beautiful nest which I found in 1895 in Essex County merits 

 description because, in addition to being the handsomest structure 

 of the Alder Flycatcher that Ihave seen, it is typical (although in 

 a somewhat exaggerated way) of the general architecture of the 



