Sbe TOarbler 35 



this means the presence of the Gray Flycatcher was easy to detect. For it 

 is a notably noisy Flycatcher, particularly in the early morning and late 

 evening, and I wish I had the vocabulary to properly describe its many notes. 



The species was not noted so far down the Santa Ana as Seven Oaks; 

 but on the north slope of San Bernardino Peak, a few miles south, and be- 

 tween 7000 and 9000 feet altitude, I noted a number on July 12. In the 

 neighborhood of Bluff Lake, 7200 to 7900 feet in elevation, the Gray Fly- 

 catcher was actually abundant during the latter part of July, particularly 

 after young began to appear on the wing. Here, the last of August, and 

 up to September 4, when we departed, it was still numerous, even more so 

 than earlier, for now full-grown young predominated. One juvenal was tak- 

 en in a clump of Murray pines toward the west end of Bear Lake, July 31. 

 On the north side of Sugarloaf, 7500 feet to 8500 feet, August 19 to 24, I 

 obtained adults and young. And finally, at Saragossa Springs, on the north- 

 west side of Gold Mountain, at about 7500 feet elevation, a specimen was 

 taken and a few more seen, July 31. 



It was in the vicinity of our base camp at the mouth of Fish Creek that 

 we gathered most of our knowledge of the nesting of the Gray Flycatcher. 

 Hitherto, authentic eggs of this species had not been reported, and as soon as 

 we were aware of its presence we began to keep a keen eye out for nests. But 

 in spite of the fact that the birds were plentiful, relatively few nests were 

 discovered. I had an idea that the Empidonaces in general build close to 

 streams, as do the species with which I was previously familiar. This idea 

 was strengthened by my seeing the birds fly-catching close along the creek 

 among the alders and willows. But the birds also affected the dry black- 

 oak woods, and the fir belt high on the dry, though shaded, mountain slopes. 

 And it was here that the majority of the nests are probably built. 



Our first nest was found by Dixon on June 14 by the roadside in the 

 Santa Ana bottom some two miles below Fish Creek. This was at an alti- 

 tude of not much over 6000 feet, and was the lowest point at which the spe- 

 cies was observed anywhere in the mountains. However, it was on the 

 shaded north slope at a place wdiere the upper transition zone extends clear 

 down to Santa Ana; in fact the first firs one meets with on his way up the 

 canyon occur there. The nest was located five feet above the ground in a 

 Ceanothus bush. It was lodged near the extremity of an obliquely-growing 

 stem, and rested against it at a point where it frayed out into numerous 

 smaller twigs, so that the nest was well supported on all sides. The nest 

 was compactly constructed with the rim smoothly rounded off. It was com- 

 posed basally of a mass of grayish weathered grass blades and stems, most 

 closely felted towards the rim, where the same material prevailed but more 

 finely shredded and mixed with bits of plant down and spiders' web. From 

 the outside the nest looked gray, but the inner lining was brownish in 

 marked contrast when the nest was viewed from above. The inside materi- 



