410 



KoIlTll AMKIMCA.V IJIUFH 



iiiiil tlio liiiliits of the s|K'cie>5 unknown. Tliiou^'li tlie «^overnnu'nt explora- 

 tions, lioWL'ver, wc have l>een niiule more familiar with it^» hal»its and peculi- 

 arities. 



l>r. Xewberrv, in his icport on tlu^ Zoolnoy of Lieutenant Williamson's 

 exi>lorations, menrions findin;^ this l)inl very ahundant in the l>es Chutes 

 basin. It tlid not l're(|uent either tlense forests or prairies destitute of trees, 

 but seemed to select surfaces covered with a scattered growth of })ine and 

 cedar. His j)arty first met with it at the base of Mount JeHerson, in the 

 canon of Mi)to-ly-as IJiver. In i»i('kin^^ his way with infinite ditlicully d«»wn 

 this iioYiHi, his attention was drawn by its new and attractive sonj^. There 



were several of them in the i»ines and cedars 

 i^rowiu'' on the face of tiie clilf. He describes its 

 son^ as (dear, full, and melodious, like that of a 

 true Mi lilt's. The next day, as he followed (h»wn 

 the river, in the bottom of the cautai the deep 

 i^ori^ii was fille«l with a chorus of sweet sounds 

 frctni thousands f»f these birds. He describes 

 them as havini,' a habit of sittinij on the branch 

 of a tree ])rojectin«,' over a stream, or hanuin^' 

 from some inojectin^' crag, and at times Hying 

 out in narrow circles, after insects, precisely in 

 the manner of Flycatchers. 



Afterwards, in another canon, the terraced 

 banks of whit h were sparsely set with low trees 

 of the Western cedar, he again found these birds 

 quite numerous, and had every opjjortunity both of hearing ami of seeing 

 them, watching them for hours while feeding and sin<'inti. Thev began their 

 songs with the first dawn of dav, and at sunrise the valley was iterfectlv 

 vocal with their music. He describes their soni: as not ureatlv varied, but 

 speaks of all their notes as ])articularly clear and sweet, and with strains of 

 pure gushing nudody that were both sj)ontaneous and inspiring. At that 

 time, Sei>tend>er .*')(!, they were feeding on the I terries of the cedar. They 

 were verv shv, and could onlv be obtained by strata«^eni. 



Dr. Kennerly, in his IJeport on the birds observed in the explorations 

 under the charge of Lieutenant Whipple, speaks of meeting with these birds 

 in tlu» Iif)ckv Mountains, in the vicinitv of the Pueblo of Zufii, in Xew 

 Mexico. Thence, westward, he occasionally met with it, and usually in the 

 cedar thickets. 



I)r. Sucklev mentions, in his TIeport on the Zo(>logy of Washington Terri- 

 tor}'-, obtaining a sjjecimen of this species at Fort Steilacoom, April 28, ISoG. 

 It was very wild and difficult of a])proach. It was the only specimen ob- 

 tained, and he considered it accidental west of the Cascade ^lountains. Dr. 

 Cooper, in the same lieport, speaks of obtaining a specimen near Fort Lara- 

 mie in October, where it seemed to be not unconunon. 



MyiarifStfs townst iidi. 



