;}42 >J0UT1I AMKIUOAN \mU)S. 



Pr. KcMinoi'ly statos tliat after ])assiiijj; tliu inountairis ol' California, and 

 desoondiiig into tiie valley of tlie San (iabriol JJivcr, he found liicse birds 

 (luito almndant on tlic, I'ui!l)lo Creek hi New ^lexieo, tliongii lie had noticed 

 none jmniously. They were t^enerally found ])erehed upon tlie suiuniit of a 

 hush, IVoiu which they would occasionally make siiort excursions in search 

 of prey. At the season in wiiich timy wei'e observed, ]\Iaicii, they were 

 rarely found in ]iairs, from which he inlerred they were already hatching. 



Dr. llcerniann speaks of it as aliundant throughout all California, and 

 as constructing its nests in situations similar to those of the common 

 eastern species (S. fii>inis). It seems to have a marked predilection for the 

 vicinity of streams and lakes, where it is luuiily always to ho seen, perched 

 ujion a stake or branch. It occasionally darts into the air for nu insect, and 

 returns to the same place to renew its watch ami to re])eat these movements. 

 The nest, com))osed of nuid and mosses and lined with liair, is jilaced against 

 the rocks, the rafters of a house or bridge, or against the inside of a largo 

 hollow tree, and the eggs, four or live in number, are pure white, speckled 

 with red. 



J)r. Cones found this Flycatcher a very abundant and ])evmanent resident 

 in the valleys of the (lila and Colorado, and the more s(iutlu;rn jiortions of 

 the Territory of Arizona generally. It was not observed in the immcuiate 

 vicinity of Fort Whipjile, though it was detected a few miles south of that 

 locality. As it has been found on the I'acitic coast so mucli farther iu)rth 

 tlian the latitude of F'ort Whipple, he thinks it nuiy yet be met with, 

 at least as a summer visitant to that jdace. In his journey from Arizona 

 to the Pacific, he ascertained that it is common throughout Southern Ari- 

 zon; , being, among land birds, his most constant com]ianion on the route. 

 IVrched generally in ]>airs u)>on the dense verdure that in niany jilaces 

 overhangs the river, it pursued its constant vocation of securing the va- 

 grant insects ai'ound it, constantly uttering its jieculiar unnielodious notes. 

 In all its movenuuits the I'ewee of the F^astern States was unmistakably 

 reproduceil. It was rather shy and wary. In Southern Arizona and Cali- 

 fornia it remains throughout the winter. It seems to delight not only in 

 river bottoms, but also in deej) mountain gorges and precipitous canons 

 with smell streams (lowing through them. 



Dr. Newberry found 'his s])e(;ies (|uite common in Northern California, 

 and specin\ens were also obtained as I'ar to the north as the I'mpiiua Valley 

 in Oregon. According to Dr. Cooper it is an abundant and resident s])e<'ies in 

 all the lower jiarts of California, except tlie Colorado Valley, where he found 

 none later than March 20, as they had all evidently passed on farther north. 

 At San Diego, lit that date, the following year (lS(i2), all these birds had 

 nests and eggs, and were there, as elsewhere, the first birds to laiihl. Their 

 nest, he states, is forined of an outer wall of mud about five and a (luarter 

 inches M-ide and three and a half high. It is built like that of the r>arn 

 Swallow, in little pellets, piled successively, as they dry, in the shape of 



