258 LIFE HISTOEIES OF IfOETH AMEEICAl^ BIRDS. 



and last year, about the middle of July, I shot a female that was obviously laying. 

 I conclude from these cii'cumstances, coupled with my experience this season, that 

 the bird is an exceptionally late breeder, which possibly may account for no one 

 getting on the track of their nests before, as the bird is not very uncommon in 

 some localities in this section. Regarding their notes, I think I have noted but 

 two distinct kinds, their discordant screech and a single call. The screech, it 

 seems to me, is not to be compared to any bird voice I have ever heard, but 

 might perhaps be compared to the protest of a wagon wheel that needs oiling, 

 varying in length, but always of the same incomparable quality of tone. Once 

 heard, it is certain to live in the memory and be recognized even after the lapse 

 of years. I could hardly describe their single note or call without hearing it 

 again. I only know that it does not closely resemble that of any other Fly- 

 catcher, though it might not impress one as peculiar in itself, as does their other 

 note. I do not think it is uttered nearly as frequently as the screech. 



"They are fully as quarrelsome as the average Flycatcher, at least about 

 their nesting tree, always keeping up their discordant notes while so engaged, 

 though if a man is about they are apt to make themselves scarce. They 

 are much less inclined to seek an exposed, dead branch than some of the 

 other members of this family, and seem to me at least to be much less actively 

 engaged in their legitimate calling of catching flies than any other Flycatcher. 

 Moreover, I have seen them repeatedly flying into wild-cherry trees, loaded with 

 ripe fruit, and though I have not happened to be close enough at the time to see 

 them eating the fruit, I concluded that that was what they were doing. They 

 frequent streams bordered with large trees, seeming always to prefer sycamores, 

 and I have rarely seen one more than 50 yards from a stream. The extreme 

 width and size of their bills, together with their short necks, give them a peculiar 

 appearance- even at a distance." 



This nest, when taken on August 15, 1894, contained three well incubated 

 eggs, these being the first ones actually found within our borders. They were 

 obtained in Ramsey's Canyon, in the Huachuca Mountains, and are now in tlie 

 United States National Museum collection. 



As the plates for this volume had already been made up and were then in 

 the lithographer's hands, none of them can be figured. The}^ are broad, ellip- 

 tical ovate in shape; the shell is close-grained, strong, and only slightly glossy. 

 Their ground color is rich, creamy buff, and they are profusely blotched and 

 spotted, principally about their larger ends, with dark pansy purple and lighter 

 shades of lavender; these markings do not resemble the streaky pattern found 

 in the eggs of the genus Myiarclms. They measure 27.18 by 19.05, 26.42 by 

 18.80, and 24.64 by 18.54 millimetres, or -1.07 by 0.75, 1.04 by 0.74, and 0.97 by 

 0.73 inches. 



The specimen figured on PI. 2, Fig. 7, was kindly loaned by Mr. William 

 Brewster, as there were no eggs of this species in the collection at the time the 

 plates were made up. It was taken by Mr. R. R. McLeod, near Carmen, 

 Chihuahua, Mexico, on May 26, 1885, from a cavity in a tree. 



