Relation of Summer Birds to Western Adirondack Forest 469 



chosen habitat its voice is one of the last heard in midsummer, 

 and until late in August the plaintive calling of the Wood Pewee 

 and the songs of the Red-eyed Vireo are the only kinds of bird 

 music to break the monotony of the forest stillness. Like the 

 Alder Flycatcher, the Wood Pewee, in the latter end of the breed- 

 ing season, sometimes expresses its emotions in a chattering jum- 

 ble of its regular song notes and calls, a performance akin to a 

 flight song. Its nest is a cup of soft materials, set on a tree branch 

 and covered with lichens like that of the scarcely less tiny home 

 of the Hummingbird ; and the eggs are white with a ring of spots 

 about the larger end. 



Olive-sided Flycatcher. Nuttallornis borealis (Swains.) 



Length 7.4. Dark olive-gray and brown above; under parts dusky on 

 sides, with a whitish stripe down the middle ; no wing-bars. 



The Olive-sided Flycatcher is one of the characteristic birds of 

 the western Adirondack plateau, inhabiting the borders of the 

 Virgin Forest along burns and clearings. Its lookout stations are 

 tall dead stubs and spires in clearings near living coniferous timber, 

 and on the top of one of these stations it perches and calls queru- 

 lously, making frequent sallies into the air in pursuit of flying 

 insects, and then returning to its station or to another similar look- 

 out. Its loud calls are a familiar sound along the forest margins. 

 To my mind the usual call resembles the syllables gree deal accented 

 on the second ; frequently there are three syllables in the call, sug- 

 gesting the combination quip gree deal, accented on the last note 

 of the phrase. A very frequent call of this Flycatcher contains 

 only the quip quip repeated in pairs, and this constitutes the usual 

 scolding note. Its nest is usually situated in the upper branches 

 of a medium sized fir in the edge of the forest. 



*Phgebe. Sayornis phecbe (Lath.) 



The Phoebe was not seen at Cranberry Lake by me, but is given 

 in Dr. L. H. Pennington's MS. list. Eaton ('14, p. 187) says that 

 it is probably the commonest member of the Flycatcher family, being 

 a summer resident throughout the State except in the spruce and 

 balsam forests of the Catskills and Adirondacks. 



Crested Flycatcher. Myiarchus crinihcs (Linn.) 



Length 9. Head dark brown, somewhat crested ; back olive-brown ; 

 tail reddish ; throat and breast ashy ; belly clear yellow. 



The Crested Flycatcher was found in only one habitat at 

 Cranberry Lake, the Lumbered Clearing near the lakeshore. The 

 family wandered widely, however, after the young were on the 

 wing, alwavs in open localities and generally utilizing the Burn and 

 the cleared margins of the higher woods. Wherever it is, the 

 Crested Flycatcher manifests its presence by its harsh cries, fur. 

 like the Kingbird, it is noisy at all times and jealous of any unwar- 

 ranted intrusion of its foraging area. Only one pair of Crested 

 Flycatchers lived in the Barber Point neighborhood, and they had 



