TVUAXNID.K -TIIK FLYCATCIIKIlri. :]r)r} 



tlm Stiitc, Imt not very comiiinn, jind as uinli)iil»t(Mlly ln't'odiiij^' thtre. It was 

 never nhserved tlieie l»el«>i'u liie L'Uth of May. It is said tu be more ulmu- 

 dant at Lik«' L'niba,i;<>^'. 



In Western Massac I m setts Mr. Allen re^jards this I ird as ti not very rare 

 summer visitant. It arrives ulmut May 1-, Itreeds in lii<xl» open woods, and 

 is seldom seen at any distance irom them. It leaves about the niiildli; ol" 

 Septend)er. 



Mr. William I'rewster, who residt-s in ('ami)rid<:je, in th(! nei^^hborhood in 

 which this sjn'cies was first observed by Mr. Xuttall, inlorms me that the.se 

 birds still continm* t(» be found in that loealitv. He has himself met with 

 five or si.\ of their nests, all of which were placecl near the extremity of 

 some louLj horizontal branch, usually that nf a pitch-pine, but on one occa- 

 sion in that of an aj)j>le-tree. The ej^^s were laid alM)ut the loth of June, 

 in onlv one instance earlier. The females were veiT restle.ss, and left their 

 nest lon<^ before he had rea«;hed it, and, sittin«,' on some dead branch con- 

 tinually uttered, in a cnmi»lainin<.,' tone, notes resembling the syllables y>///- 

 pi//-pi//, occasionally varyin^^ to jH(-/n'-pu. The males were tierce and «piar- 

 relsome, and atta(!ked indiscriminately everything that came near their 

 domain, sometimes seeming even to fall out with their mates, fighting sav- 

 agcdy with them for several seconds. When incubation was at all far 

 advanced, the birds evinced consideraide courage, darting tlown to within a 

 few inches of his head, if he approached their nest, at the same time loudly 

 snapping their bills. 



A nest of this Flycatcher was found in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. Cleorge O. 

 Welch, in June, lsr»8. It was built on the top of a dead cedar, and con- 

 tained three eggs. It was a Hat, shallow structure, five inches in its external 

 diameter, and with a very imperfectly defined cavity. The greatest depth 

 was less than half an inch. It was coarsely and loosely built of strii>s of 

 the bark and fine twigs of the red cedar, roots, mosses, dry grasses, etc. 

 The nest was so shallow, that, in climbing to it, two of the eggs were rolled 

 out and broken. 



Mr. Charles S. Paine has found this bird breeding in T^andolplh Vt. On 

 one occasion he found its nest on the top of a tall hemlock-tree, but was not 

 able to get to it. 



In niiladeli)hia, Mr. Trumbull found tbis species very rare. It passed 

 north early in May, and south in September. Near Hamilton, Canada, it is 

 very rare, none having been seen ; and two specimens obtained near Toronto 

 are all that Mr. Mcllwraitli is aware of having been taken in Canada West. 



Dr. Hoy informs me tbat this species used to be quite common near 

 Kacine, frequenting the edges of thick woods, where they nested. They have 

 now become quite scarce. Some years since, he found one of their nests, 

 just abandoned by the young birds, which their parents w(»re engaged in 

 feeding. It was on the horizontal branch of a maple, and was composed 

 \vholly of usnar. 



