288 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



before considered rare. And this is not merely because begin- 

 ners set too high a value on all common objects, but because 

 their observation, on being cultivated, is greatly increased. It 

 has, however, been said, somewhat sarcastically, that inexperi- 

 enced students see more rare birds and nests than an expe- 

 rienced naturalist can ever find. 



(C) FLAVIVENTRIS. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 



(Not common in New England.) 



(a). About 5 inches long. Above, olive-green; sides, 

 shaded with the same ; otherwise beneatJi, decided yelloiv. Lower 

 mandible, eye-ring, wing-bars, etc., yellowish (or even yellow). 

 Tail even or rounded. 



(b) . Dr. Brewer found a nest of this species which closely 

 resembled that of the Indigo Bird, at Grand Menan, near the 

 shore, "about two feet from the ground, placed in the fork of 

 a bush." The eggs were white. "Those procured by Mr. 

 Boardman were sprinkled with minute dots of reddish-brown. 

 Their measurement is *68 X "52 of an inch." Two eggs in my 

 collection measure about -75 X *55 of an inch, and are pure 

 white, unmarked. 



(c). The Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are the rarest members 

 of their family in New England, and, though their distribution 

 is probably similar to that of Traill's Flycatcher, yet they are 

 apparently in no district very common. I have rarely found 

 them near Boston, and generally have seen only two or three 

 in June or the latter part of May. There is little to. observe, 

 other than their shyness, their fondness for shrubbery and wet 

 lands, their low and characteristic note (approached only by 

 one of the Goldfinches which is rarely heard), and the occa- 

 sional flirting of their tail. Mr. Maynard's notes are very 

 interesting. He says: "On May 31, 1869, I shot the first 

 specimen I had ever seen living; the next day (June 1st) I 

 took eight of both sexes in a few hours ! Between this time 

 and the 10th I took two or three more. I do not doubt that 

 it Jias occurred in previous seasons, but, being unaccustomed 

 to its low note, which is like the syllable Pea very plaintively 



