258 ALDER FLYCATCHER 



Alder Flycatcher : Empidonax trailii alnorum and race. 



Upper parts olive-brown ; under parts white, washed with dusky ; 



wing bars soiled whitish. Length, about 6 inches. 

 GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. North America ; breeds from 



Arizona, Missouri, southern Illinois, northern New England, 



and casually Connecticut, north to New Brunswick and Alaska ; 



winters in Central America. 



This Flycatcher is a shy bird of the alders 

 rather than a bird of the village, as is the ' Least/ 

 its double. And instead of the call of che-beck f , 

 with which the Least relieves his feelings, Traill's 

 finds it sufficient to say pep. Its song is said to re- 

 semble that of the Acadian, being an ' ee-zee'-e-upj 

 jerked out so rapidly that the performer doubles 

 himself up, fairly vibrating with the explosive 

 effort. 



Contrasting still further the members of the 

 Flycatcher tribe which we have looked at, we find 

 that the Kingbird is the tormentor of Hawks and 

 Crows, and is marked with a white band across the 

 end of its tail. (See Plate XIII. 4.) Though the 

 Phoebe and Wood Pewee are confusing at first, 

 they can be discriminated by the more marked 

 wing bars of the Wood Pewee (see Plate XIII. 

 2), aside from the calls and habits of the two 

 birds, which are quite distinct ; the Wood Pewee 

 having the pee-ah-we call instead of phoe-be, and 

 the Pewee nesting on a high branch instead of 

 under a shed, house, bridge, or barn. The Great 

 Crest and the Olive-sided are the two birds of the 



