FLYCATCHERS. 



249 



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may be heard as long as one remains in his vicinity. During the mi- 

 gration this species is silent and its several distinctive notes are not 

 available for its identification, and the same thing may be said of our 

 other small Flycatchers. Groat similarity in plumage exists between 

 them all, and without the bird in hand identifications are at best 

 questionable; 



The song is more suggestive of a sneeze on the bird's part than of 

 any other sound with which it may be compared. It is an abrupt 

 pfie-Sk', almost in one explosive syllable, harsh like the deeper tones 

 of a House Wren, and less musical than the similar but longer songs 

 of Traill's or the Acadian Flycatcher. It is hardly surprising that the 

 birds sing very little when we see with what a convulsive jerk of the 

 head the notes are produced, Its plaintive call is far more melodious 

 — a soft, mournful whistle consisting of two notes, the second higher 

 pitched and prolonged, with rising inflection, resembling in a measure 

 chu-e-e-p. J. Dwioht, Jr. 



465. Empidonaz vlrescens ( Vlcill.).* Acadian Flycatcher. 

 .'((/. —Upper parts l^ctwcoii olivc-grfcii and dark olive-^reen; whij^s and tuil 

 fuscous; greater and lessor winaf -coverts yellowish white, t'orining two con- 

 spieuous wiiii,'-burs; under parts white, washed with pale yellowish and 

 sliif?itl>/ tmiiiid with frreenisli on the hreast; tlu' thnmt, and tre(iiientiy the 

 niiiklle of the helly, i)ure white; upper nian(lil)le blaek, lower inandihle wliit- 

 ish or flesli-color ; second to fourth primaries of ahont i-qual leiijjtli, the tirst 

 and fifth sliorter and also of e(iual Iciitrtli. ////. — Up|(er [larts irreener; luider 

 parts more tinj^ed with yellow ; wiii'^-haTS ami outv!' edixes of the fi/ix nf the 

 secondaries Oii\\rAWi)\x»-\m^. L., ri-T.'i; W., -j'So; T., 2";}."); I>. .Vkim N., •.".•;. 



.Iiema.rks.—'X\\\A species has the upper parts fully as ulivej,'n'cn as the 

 Yellow'-hellied Flycatcher, hut the under parts are never entirely yellow, and 

 the throat is always white. 



liitiKje. — Eastern United States ; hreeds fnyn Florida to southern Connect- 

 icut and Manitoba; winters in Central America. 



Wasliinnftoii, common S. R., May 5 to Sept. 15. Sing .Sing, common S. R., 

 May 10 to Aug. 27. 



Xext, shallow, of plant stems, grasses, and blossoms, generally on a fork 

 of a beccii about eight feet up. L'(j<j!<, two to three, creamy white, with u few 

 cinnamon-brown spota about the larger end, -71 X ■,")(). 



Look for the Acadian Flycatcher in woodlands watered by small 

 streams. It selects a low rather than a high perch, and is rarely seen 

 more than twenty feet from the ground. The frequeidly uttered calls 

 of this bird are charactoristie and will enable you to identify it with 

 more ease in the field than in the study. The most common is a sin- 

 gle spee or peet, repeated at short intervals and accompanied by a 



♦ Equivalent to Empidoiuix acarlicua of authors f see Brew.ster, Auk, xii, 

 April, 189B. 



