220 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



NEST AND EGGS OF OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, 



460. Coues Flycatcher. Contopus pertinax pallidiventris. 



Range. Western Mexico, breeding north to central Arizona. 



This Flycatcher builds one of the most artistic nests created 

 by feathered creatures. It bears some resemblance on the ex- 

 terior to that of the next species, but it is much more firmly 

 made, and the walls are usually higher, making a very deep- 

 ly cupped interior. The outside of the nest is made of fibres, 

 cobwebs, catkins, etc., firmly felted together and ornamented 

 with green lichens to match the limb upon which it is saddled. 

 The interior is heavily lined with dried, yellowish grasses, making a very 

 strong contrast to the exterior. They are fairly abundant birds in the ranges 

 of southern Arizona, where they nest generally during June. They lay three 

 eggs of a rich creamy color, spotted and blotched, chiefly about the larger end, 

 with reddish brown and lilac gray. Size .85 x .61. Data. Huachuca Mts., 

 Arizona, July 8, 1897. 3 eggs. Nest in a yellow pine about 60 feet up and 

 near the extremity of a long slender limb. Elevation 7000 feet. Collector, 

 O. W. Howard. 



[Cream color. J 



