FLYCATCHEBS 369 



of these in rather re^lar succession, catching flies en route. Occasionally 

 he would go up higher, 30 feet or so, to one of the outstanding limbs of 

 a neighboring sugar pine or red fir, and from there he would sing. The 

 female did not seek such prominent perches but kept flying low between 

 the clumps of brush, often disappearing completely within a canopy of 

 top-foliage, but as far as could be determined at no particular spot. No 

 nest was located and it is likely that building did not commence until 

 some days later. At the same locality on June 10, 1915, a bird of this 

 species was seen carrying nesting material into a similar thicket. Fly- 

 catchers generally nest somewhat later than vegetarian birds, probably 

 because flying insects, especially in the mountains, do not become abundant 

 enough to ensure successfully rearing a broad of young until the season 

 is considerably advanced. As one goes up the mountains to higher zones, 

 'spring' and 'summer' are observed to occur later and later according to 

 the calendar. 



A male Wright Flycatcher which came to our attention on the floor 

 of Yosemite Valley near Stoneman bridge had evidently located there 

 for the summer. His singing perch was a limb of a yellow pine about 

 30 feet above the ground; below him were numerous chokecherry thickets. 

 No female was seen. The bird was watched on several occasions between 

 May 19 and 22, and his song translated on the spot as follows: se-put, 

 ivurfsel, see'-pit, swer'-zel, see'wurz, and so on. Another translation was 

 simpler, p-sip\ reck, p-slip, or even, lye-sick' , wreck, de-sick^ There was 

 a lisping quality to the utterance throughout, as indicated by the number 

 of sibilants. Each phrase of the song was accompanied by a violent tweak 

 of the head and a synchronized jerk of the tail, and at the time of utter- 

 ance the wing tips were dropped below and apart from the small and 

 slender tail. The intervals between songs varied in length and during these 

 rests the flycatcher would occasionally launch forth after a passing insect. 



The song of the Wright Flycatcher appears to be more extensive and 

 more varied than that of any of the other small flycatchers occurring on 

 the west side of the mountains. Even so, it is relatively simple as com- 

 pared with the songs of many of the other woodland birds. These fly- 

 catchers (the family Tyrannidae) are not true song birds, their vocal 

 muscles being fewer in number and less developed than those of the 

 sparrows, warblers, and thrushes. The call note of the Wright Flycatcher 

 is see'pit, or simply pit, and is repeated at short intervals. Occasionally 

 a throaty serz is interpolated. And the combination of these, in variable 

 series, constitutes the song. When the birds are down in the brush the 

 soft pit is the note most given. Presumably this is the call note exchanged 

 by two birds of a pair so that each may keep track of the whereabouts of 

 the other. 



