no sea General Notes. 405 
Nesting Habits of Empidonax insulicola.—I have just read with great 
interest in ‘The Auk’ for July, 1897, the paper by Mr. Harry C. Ober- 
holser, describing the Hmpzdonax of the Santa Barbara group as a new 
species under the name zzsudicola. Mr. Oberholser is of course correct in 
assuming that I mistook the bird for &. dzfcrlzs in my list of Santa Cruz 
birds (Auk, IV, 1887, 329), an error to be explained, though not excused, 
by the fact that I shot no specimens of this species. 
If zusudicola receives general recognition, as appears probable, some 
account of its habits, nest and eggs will be of interest. 
During my visit to Santa Cruz in the summer of 1886 I saw the Island 
Flycatchers (if I may suggust a vernacular name) constantly ; indeed they 
were among the most abundant of the land birds. They were to be found 
chiefly along the rocky, wooded cafions, and their habits closely resembled 
those of the Wood Pewee. The Island Flycatchers, however, seem to 
prefer a lower perch, generally within six or eight feet from the ground. 
Their note is a disyllabic, lisping call difficult to describe; not wholly 
unlike the characteristic note of the Least Flycatcher, but much less 
forcible and metallic. 
The first nest which I found was built actually in our camp. A stream, 
swollen by winter rains to the size of a river, had undermined its banks ; 
shrinking in summer to a mere mountain brook, it had left a high, concave 
bank on either side. Under one of these arching banks was the nest, 
neatly concealed among the roots which descended from the trees above. 
It was placed about seven feet above the level of the stream, and not 
more than twelve feet away from our camp table, which we had set under 
this bank to secure protection from the sun. The nest was rather small, 
saucer-shaped, and composed of material evidently gathered from the bed 
of the stream, — strips of bark, dead grasses and shreds of dry, bleached 
vegetable matter. It was neatly and compactly made. The two eggs 
were dead white, not creamy or buff, and sparsely dotted with reddish 
about the larger end. 
From the first we were careful not to frighten the birds, and they soon 
became accustomed to our presence. One bird would be almost constantly 
on the nest, while the other would establish a perch on a bush just across 
the stream, darting off now and then to catch insects on the wing, and 
frequently bringing them to its mate, The eggs were hatched on the 
13th and 14th respectively, and then the parents were kept very busy 
supplying the young birds with food. On the 18th the young were 
mysteriously removed from the nest, probably by the parent birds, and I 
saw no more of that particular family. 
On July 1o I found a pair of Island Flycatchers building their nest in a 
small pocket in the face of a huge projecting rock over the same stream, 
half a mile above our camp. It was a situation inaccessible without the 
aid of a long ladder or a rope, and I was unable to examine the nest. 
On July 18 I found a bird’s nest, which was built in one of the sea-side 
caves for which Santa Cruz is famous. This was a very compact and 
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