ARKANSAW FLYCATCHER. 423 
like tsh’k, tsk, tshivait, sounding almost like the creaking of a rusty 
door-hinge, somewhat in the manner of the King Bird, with a blending 
of the notes of the Blackbird:or Common Grakle. Although I saw 
these birds residing in the woods of the Columbia, and near the St 
Diego in Upper California, I have not been able to find the nest, which 
is probably made in low thickets, where it would be consequently easily 
overlooked. In the Rocky Mountains they do not probably breed be- 
fore midsummer, as they are still together in noisy quarrelsome bands 
until the middle of June.” 
Dr Townsenv’s notice respecting it is as follows: ‘* This is the 
Chlow-ash-pil of the Chinooks. It is numerous along the banks of the 
Platte, particularly in the vicinity of trees and bushes. It is found 
also, though not so abundantly, across the whole range of the Rocky 
Mountains ; and along the banks of the Columbia to the ocean, it is a 
very common species. Its voice is much more musical than is usual 
with birds of its genus, and its motions are remarkably quick and 
graceful. Its flight is often long sustained, and like the Common 
King Bird, with which it associates, it is frequently seen to rest in the 
air, maintaining its position for a considerable time. ‘The males are 
wonderfully belligerent, fighting almost constantly, and with great 
fury, and their loud notes of anger and defiance remind one strongly of 
the discordant grating and creaking of a rusty door hinge. The 
Indians of the Columbia accuse him of a propensity to destroy the 
young, and eat the eggs of other birds.” 
Tyrannus vERTICcALIS, Say, Long’s Exped. vol. ii. p. 60. 
Muscicapa vVERTICALIs, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 67. 
Arxansaw FrycarcHEer, Muscicapa vERTICALIsS, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. 
vol. i. p. 18, pl. 2, fig. 2. 
Arxkansaw FrycatcHer, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 273. 
Adult Male. Plate CCCLIX. Fig. 1. 
Bill rather long, stout, tapering, broader than high, unless toward 
the end. Upper mandible with its dorsal outline straight. and decli- 
nate, until at the tip, where it is deflected, the ridge narrow, the sides 
convex, the edges sharp, with a slight notch close to the very narrow 
tip. Lower mandible with the angle short and broad, the dorsal line 
ascending and very slightly convex, the ridge broad and flat at the base, 
the sides convex, the edges sharp, the tip acute. The gape-line al- 
