ZOOLOGY. ' 169 



in June, about the period of mating. They pursue insects in the same manner as the other 

 species, and often descend to the ground for grasshoppers, &c. Their cries are liarsh and loud, 

 not deserving the name of a song. They never approach the coast, though so common in 

 almost every other part of the country west of the Mississippi. — C. 



This bird is abundant during the summer, both in the central and western sections of Oregon 

 Territory and Washington Territory. In 1856 I first noticed their arrival from tlie south about 

 May 15. At Fort Dalles, in 1855, I obtained them, I think, a little earlier. They then 

 appeared simultaneonsh- with the Icterus Bullockii. At Fort Steilacoom their arrival in 1856 

 was at about the same time as that of the Pyranga Ludoviciana, Columbia fasciata, Denaidura, 

 Carolinensis, and others. 



The first notification of the arrival of this species in the spring is the occurrence of the 

 quarrels and skirmishes incident to their courtships. Like the other birds of this family, they 

 are remarkably quarrelsome and pugnacious, so much so that, during the commencement of the 

 breeding season, whenever they were moderately plentiful, I could scarcely cast my eyes in 

 any direction without witnessing jealous conflicts in which two or more of these little creatures, 

 with harsh, squeaking clamor, were most madly engaged. The battles were generally fought 

 in the air, and presented ludicrous alternations of pursuit and flight. 



The breeding places at Fort Dalles were in oak trees by preference. — S. 



CONTOPUS BOREALIS, Baird. 



Olivc-sidcd Plycatclier. 



Tyrannus borealis, Sw. & Eicu. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 141 ; plate. 



Muscicapa cooperi, Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 282 —Aud. Cm. Biog. II, 1834, 422: V, 1839, 422; pi. 174.— Ib. 



Synopsis, 1839, 41.— Is. Birds Amer. I, 1840, 212; pi. 58. 

 Tyrannus cooperi, Bonat. List, 1838.— Nuttall, Man. I, 2d ed. 1840, 298. 

 Qmiopus cooperi, Cabanis, Journal fiir Ornithol. Ill, Nov. 1855, 479. 

 Muscicapa inornata, Ndttall, Man. I, 1832, 282. 

 Contopus borealis, Baikd, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 188. 



Sr. Cii. — Wings long, much pointed ; the second quill longest ; the first longer than the third. Tail deeply forked. Tarsi 

 short. The upper parts ashy brown, showing dai-Iier brown centres of the feathers ; tliis is eminently the case on the top of 

 the head ; the sides of the head and neck, of the breast and body resembling the back, but with the edges of the feathers 

 tinged with gray, leaving a darker central streak. The chin, throat, narrow line down the middle of the breast and body, 

 abdomen, and lower tail coverts white, or sometimes with a faint tinge of yellow. The lower tail coverts somewhat streaked 

 with brown in the centre. On each side of the rump, generally concealed by the wings, is an elongated bunch of white 

 silky feathers. The wings and tail very dark brown, the former, with the edges of the secondaries and tertials, edged with 

 dull wliite. The lower wing coverts and axillaries grayish brown. The tips of the primaries and tail feathers rather paler. 

 Feet and upper mandible black, lower mandible brown. The young of the year similar, but the color duller ; the feet light 

 brown. Length, 8.50 to 7.75; extent, 10.50 to 13; wing, 4.33; tail, 3.30; tarsus, .60. Iris brown; feet black; bill 

 black above, horn color below. Female smaller. 



Hab. — Rare on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. Not observed in the interior, except to the north. 

 Found in Greenland. (Reinhardt.) 



The olive-sided flycatcher is very common, arriving early in May, and frequenting the 

 borders of woods, where, from the summit of some tall dead tree, its loud melancholy cry 

 resounds through the day during the whole of summer. It frequents the small pine groves 

 along the coast as well as the interior, and remains until late in September. — C. 



I obtained a specimen of a bird at Fort Steilacoom, July 10, 1856, which agreed in many 

 respects with Nuttall' s description of this species. From my note book I extract the following 

 remarks: "No. 454. <? . 6^, lOi. Upper mandible nearly black; lower dusky (purplish? 

 22 Q 



