THE ACADIAN FLYCATCHER. 



325 



green and ochrey brown, or else becheckered by the soft sunlight as it comes 

 sifting down through unstained windows. Here a group of tapering pillars, 

 a closer brotherhood, incline in reverence to the whispering breeze, and cast 

 an ample shade for the inner shrine ; and here a fallen tree, grown old in ser- 

 vice but useful still, invites the worshipper to pause and rest. 



In such a sacred spot as this the Acadian Flycatcher has chosen to spend 

 its brief summer. Within the shadow of a single wood it finds its mate, rears 

 young, and gathers strength for the return across the unknown wastes to 

 Florida. 



The first notice which we have of the bird's arrival, sometime during the 

 last week in April, is a 

 fairy sneeze heard in the 

 depths of the wood. 

 "Cleotip" it says, 

 but with the 

 time and em- 

 phasis of a 

 "Kachew."This 

 note comes not 

 from the tip of 

 some dead limb 

 in full view, as 

 would be the 

 case with other 

 Flycatch- 

 ers, but from a 

 clear space on 

 some lower 

 limb or middle 

 height. The 

 bird delivers his 

 salutation with 



a good deal of apparent effort, as tho he were clearing an obstruction .from his 

 beak, and he jerks his tail at the same time by way of emphasis. His repertory 

 of song contains no other notes save a low humming titter of adulation, common 

 to the little Flycatchers, and a sharp scolding note, smew, or more rarely weet, 

 with a sort of explosiveness at the finish. Altho these are the only notes which I 

 have observed in a somewhat extended acquaintance, one cannot afford to be 

 dogmatic on this subject. As matter of curiosity the following list of interpreta- 

 tions is presented, as culled from seven authors : Queae, queae, tchoae, tchetvee, 

 weet, weet, weet, will; chirr (Audubon) ; quequeal (Allen); spee or pcet; 

 pce-c-yuk (Chapman) ; e-chee-ah (Nehrling) ; unck-up or hick-up; queep- 



Photo by J. B. Parker. 



THE TRIUMPH OF MOTHER-LOVE. 



ALTHO IN TERROR OF THE CAMERA, THIS MOTHER FLYCATCHER VENTURES TO 

 FEED HER FAMISHING BROOD WHILE HOVERING OVER THEM ON THE WING. 



