Phoebe and Great-crested Flycatcher 619 



visitor to most of the western United States, being especially abundant in the 

 Great Basin region, while Cassin's Kingbird (T. vociferans) is more partial to 

 the coast districts. 



Phoebe. Another very common and familiar member of this group is the 

 Phcebe (Sayornis phcebe) of eastern North America, a bird olive-grayish above, 

 darker on the top of the head, and whitish washed with yellowish below, tinged 

 with brownish gray on the breast; the length is about seven inches. As Mr. 

 Chapman very well says: "There is something familiar, trustful, and home- 

 like in the Phcebe's ways which has won him an undisputed place in our affec- 

 tions. With an assurance born of many welcomes he returns each year to 

 his perch on the bridge-rail, barnyard gate, or piazza, and contentedly sings 

 his humble, monotonous pewit phcebe, pewit phcebe, a hopelessly tuneless 

 performance; but who that has heard it in early spring when the 'pussy willow' 

 seems almost to purr with soft blossoms, will not affirm that Phoebe touches 

 chords dumb to more ambitious songsters ! " The Phcebe is not at all pugnacious, 

 but trustful and confiding, and takes up its home near human habitations, 

 placing its bulky, deeply cup-shaped nest of moss and mud, lined with grasses 

 and hairs, on the beam of a barn, under a bridge, or behind a projecting ledge 

 of rock, and there, often in full sight of people constantly passing, it rears its 

 young. In the western United States the place is largely taken by two allied 

 species, the Black Phcebe (S. nigricans), which is slate-black throughout 

 except for the white abdomen, and Say's Phcebe (S. saya), in which the ab- 

 domen is light cinnamon or tawny. 



The Great-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) of eastern North America 

 may be taken as the typical example of Myiarchus, a large genus of some thirty- 

 five species which spreads generally over North, Central, and South America 

 and the West Indian Islands. This species is about nine inches long, dull 

 greenish olive above, the wings and tail brownish, while the sides of the head 

 and neck as well as the throat and upper breast are bluish ashy, and the entire 

 under parts bright sulphur-yellow; the head is provided with a depressed crest, 

 but is without the bright-colored, concealed spot so common in other Tyrant- 

 birds. This bird is partial to open woodland and forests, w r here its loud, shrill 

 but not especially unmusical call is frequently heard. It is of exceedingly 

 irritable and pugnacious disposition, attacking nearly all the birds of its size 

 with which it comes in contact. The nest, a rather slight affair of grasses, root- 

 lets, etc., is placed in a hole of some sort, usually a hole in a tree, fence rail, or 

 post, and almost invariably has woven into it the cast-off skin of a snake. The 

 object of the snake skin is conjectural, possibly for the purpose of ornament 

 or to frighten away intruders. The eggs are four or five in number and have 

 a cream-colored ground over which is scattered longitudinal lines of rich purple 

 and brown. 



American Flycatchers. Another large genus represented in North America 

 is Empidonax, which embraces over thirty forms, all being small birds, under 

 six inches in length, plain brownish, grayish, or olive above, the wings with two 

 lighter bands, and whitish, yellowish, or buff below. They are mostly unob- 



