354 NORTH AMKllICAN lUilDJ^. 



secoiul spof'inicn, olttaincd soon after, wore females, cm the point of incuba- 

 tion. A lliirtl tciiiiilc was slmt in tiie following' year, June L'l. Supposed to 

 Ikj a new spceies, it was deseriljed by Mr. Nuttall as I't/naums mufuri. All 

 tiie sjK'ciniens procund had their stumachs tilled with turn I'ra^iaentii of bees, 

 wasps, and similar insects. 



Mr. Nuttall, who watched the motions of two other living' indivi(hmls of 

 this species, statis tliat they apiM'ared tyrannical and <iuarrelsome even with 

 each other. Their attacks were always accompanied with a whinin*,', «|ueru- 

 lous twitter. The disjMites seemed to l>e alM)ut the occupancy of certain terri- 

 tories. One bird, a female, appeared to eontine herself to a small duiu]) of red 

 cedars, in the midst of a sandy i)iece of forest. From the tree-tops she kept 

 a sharp lookout for passin;^ insect.s, and ])ursiu'd tliem, as they a])peared, with 

 great vigor and success, sometimes chasing them to the ground, and returning 

 to her perch with a mouthful which she devoured at her leisure. When 

 she resumed her jiosition, she would occasionally (piiver her wings and tail, 

 erect her crest, keeping up a whistling call of y>/"-y;/", uttered with variations. 

 IVsides this call the male had a short song which sounded like ch'-jihehee. 



The nest of this pair Mr. Nuttall discovered in the horizontal bninch of a 

 tall red cedar, fiftv feet from the ground. It was made externally of inter- 

 laced dead twigs of the cedar, lined with wiry stems, and dry grasses, and 

 fragments of lichens. It contained three young, which remained in the nest 

 twentv-three days, and were fed on beetles and other insects, liefore they 

 left their nests thev could Hv as well as their parents. The male bird was 

 very watchful, and would fre([uently follow Mr. Nuttall half a mile. They 

 were in no way timid, and allowed him to investigate them and their premi- 

 ses without any signs of alarm. 



In 1S:)2 the same ])air, ajiparently, took possession of a small juni})er, near 

 the tree tliey had occupied the year before, in which, at the height of fifteen 

 feet, they placed tlieir ne.st. It contahied four eggs which, except in their 

 superior size, were i>recisely similar to those of the Wood Pewee, yellowish 

 cream-color, with dark brown and lavender-puri>le s])ots, thinly disi>ersed. 

 After removing two «»f the.se eggs, the others were accidentally rolled out of the 

 nest. The pair ctjnstructed another nest, again in a cedar-tree, at a short dis- 

 tance. The next vearthev did not return to that locality. Mr. Nuttall after- 

 wards met with individuals of this species in the fir woods on the Columbia. 



On the Sth of August, 18:>2, Mr. Audubon, in company with Mr. Nuttall, 

 obtained the s])ecimen of tliis species in llrookline, Mass., from which his 

 drawing was made. In the course of his journey farther east, Audubon 

 found it in Maine, on the Magdeleine Islands, and on the coast of Labrador. 

 He afterwards met with it in Texas. 



^Ir. IJoardman reports the Olive-sided Hycatcher as having of late years 

 been very abundant during the summer in the dead woods about the lakes 

 west of Calais, where formerly they were (piite uncommon. Mr. A errill 

 mentions it as a summer visitant in Oxford County, in the western part of 



