354 ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



Contopvs virens var. ricliardsonii, Allen, Bui. Mus. Comp. Zoo!., 1872, 70 (replacing 

 virens at western edge of plains). — Cotjes, Key N. A. Birds, 1872, 174. — 

 Bd., Brew.. & RiDG., N. A. Birds, ii, 1874, 360, pi. 44, f. 4. — Yarrow & 

 HENSHAW, Rep. Orn. Specs., 1872, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 22. — Henshaw, 

 An. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., xi, 1874, 7.— Id., An. List Birds Utah, 1872, 

 Wheeler's Exped., 1S74, 40. — Id., Rep. Orn. Specs., 1873, Wheeler's Exped., 

 1874, 60, 86, 126.— Allen, Tree. Bost. Soc. Nat, Hist,, June, 1874, 32. 



Contopus (virens var.?) ricliardsonii, (Joues, Birds Northwest, 1874, 247. 



Found by our parties in New Mexico and Arizona as well as throughout 

 Utah and Colorado. 



The most abundant representative of the family. Inhabits the dark 

 recesses of the pine woods as well as the edges of clearings and ravines. 

 Unlike the preceding species, wdiich stations itself on the loftiest stubs, this 

 flycatcher pursues its prey among the lower branches of the trees, and often 

 descends almost to the ground to snap up a fly or moth. Its song bears 

 but a slight resemblance to that of the Eastern Pewee (C. virens), being 

 shorter, harsher, and much more emphatic. The call note is entirely differ- 

 ent. A nest kindly presented by Mr. Aiken, found by him near Foun- 

 tain, Colo., shows but little difference in style and structure when compared 

 with eastern examples. It is composed mostly of sheeps' wool, externally 

 covered with bits of bark and leaves, and lined with fine grasses. Its 

 depth, of an inch and a half, is greater than in any I have ever seen in the 

 East, but possibly this may have been rendered necessary for the preserva- 

 tion of the eggs, on account of the prevalence of high winds in this locality. 



In further confirmation of the similarity in the breeding habits of the 

 eastern and western Wood Pewees, I present the following observations 

 from Mr. Aiken : " How such accurate observers as Messrs. Allen and 

 Trippe should have been led into making the statement that the nest of 

 Contopus richardsoni is placed in the ' forks of a small branch instead of 

 being saddled on a horizontal limb,' I cannot understand. My observations 

 at least have proved the reverse to be the case. I have found probably 

 twenty of these nests in the mountains of Colorado, and in not a single 

 instance was there any similarity in which they were placed to those of 

 Empidonax minimus. On the contrary, I find them positively saddled upon 

 the limb, generally upon the terminal fork of a horizontal branch. I have 

 also found several settled in the angle formed by the trunk of the tree and 



