FLYCATCHERS. 



117 



should the wind permit, their call-note may be frequently heard. 

 In disposition they are particularly harmless, living in perfect 

 good-fellowship with each other, and appearing to care little about 

 other birds. Their food consists of all sorts of soft-bodied ani- 

 mals, picked up from the surface of the ocean; but we are unable 

 to say more upon this subject. The stomachs of such as have been 

 examined contained nothing but a fluid resembling train-oil, but 

 never the slightest trace of animal remains." 



PLATE LXXVI. 



Fork-tailed Flycatcher. (Milvulus tyrannus.) 



Fig. i. 



This is one of those beautiful tropical American birds, that is 

 met with only as a straggler in North America. Nuttall says : 

 ** In its habits it resembles the other native species of the genus, 

 is a solitary bird, remaining for a long time perched on the limb 

 of a tree, from whence it occasionally darts after passing insects, 

 or, flying downward, it alights on the tufted herbage arising above 

 the partially drowned savannas, beyond whose limits this seden- 

 tary species but seldom strays. While seated, his long train is in 

 motion, like that of the Wagtail, and he now and then utters a 

 twitter in the manner of the King-bird. Beside insects, like our 

 King-bird, he feeds on berries, and this individual has his stomach 

 distended with those of the poke plant." 



South America affords two other species resembling the present, 

 and equally remarkable for the singular length and forking of the 

 tail-feathers. 



Swallow-tailed Flycatcher, Scissor-tail. (Milvulus forticatus.) 



Fig. 2. 



This elegant bird, though properly a native of Central America, 

 is, as the last named, occasionally met with in the United States. 

 They are usually seen assembled in large parties upon low brush- 

 wood, and from thence fly down to seize their insect prey. At the 

 appearance of dusk, they retire to pass the night together upon a 

 favorite tree. While perched, they seem to be of very indolent 

 and quiet disposition, but while in flight their appearance is strik- 

 ing and remarkable, as they constantly open and close their long 

 tails, after the fashion of a pair of scissors, during the whole time 

 that they are upon the wing, a circumstance from which they de- 

 rive their name. Insects constitute their principal fare, and these 

 they capture in the same manner as other members of their family ; 

 they also pursue and devour many small birds, and, according to 

 Nuttall, frequently consume berries. The nest, which is usually 

 concealed in a thickly-foliaged bush, is open above, and formed 

 of delicate twigs, snugly lined with a bed of fibers, wool, or feath- 

 ers; the eggs are white, mottled with reddish brown, these mark- 

 ings being thickest at the broad end. As autumn draws to a close, 

 the Scissor Birds congregate with other species in large parties, 

 previous to setting forth upon their migrations. Schomburghk 

 tells us that such of these flocks as he observed leaving the coun- 

 try, settled upon the trees from about three to five o'clock in the 

 afternoon, and remained there for the night, resuming their south- 

 ern course at the first dawn of day. 



Olive-sided Flycatcher ; Cooper's Flycatcher. (Contopus borealis.) 



Fig. 3- 



This expert Flycatcher is met with in the evergreens, and in 

 orchards, in most parts of North America. Its disposition is sim- 



ilar to the other members of the family. Describing this species, 

 Nuttall says : " I have watched the motions of two other living in- 

 dividuals, who appeared tyrannical and quarrelsome even with 

 each other ; the attack was always accompanied with a whining, 

 querulous twitter. Their dispute was, apparently, like that of savages 

 about the rights of their respective hunting grounds. One of the 

 birds, the female, whom I usually saw alone, was uncommonly se- 

 dentary. The territory she seemed determined to claim was cir- 

 cumscribed by the tops of a cluster of tall Virginia junipers or red 

 cedars, and an adjoining elm, and decayed cherry tree. From 

 this sovereign station, in the solitude of a barren and sandy piece 

 of forest, she kept a sharp lookout for passing insects, and pur- 

 sued them with great vigor and success as soon as they appeared, 

 sometimes chasing them to the ground, and generally resuming 

 her perch with an additional mouthful, which she swallowed at 

 leisure. On descending to her station, she occasionally quivered 

 her wings and tail, erected her blousy cap, and kept up a whistling, 

 oft-repeated, whining call of 'pu 'pu, then varied to 'pu 'pip, and 

 'pip 'pu, also at times, 'pip 'pip 'pu, 'pip 'pip 'pip, 'pu 'pu 'pip, or 

 'tu, 'to, 'tu, and 'tu 'tu. This shrill, pensive, and quick whistle, 

 sometimes dropped almost to a whisper, or merely 'pu. The tone 

 was, in fact, much like that of the 'phu 'phu 'phu of the Fish 

 Hawk. The male, however, besides this note, at long intervals, 

 had a call of 'eh 'phebee, or 'h 'phebea, almost exactly in tone of 

 the circular tin whistle, or bird-call, being loud, shrill, and guttural 

 at the commencement." 



According to Minot, " The nest is much less finished and artis- 

 tic than that of the Wood Pewee, and is, moreover, nearly always 

 placed in an evergreen or orchard tree. It is frequently built in 

 a pine, from fifteen to even fifty feet above the ground, being 

 placed in the fork of a horizontal limb. One before me is shallow, 

 and is composed of twigs, fine strips of bark, stalks of field-weeds, 

 and a little moss. The eggs of each set are usually five, average 

 about 0.85 by 0.65 of an inch, and are, in Massachusetts, laid in 

 the second week in June. They are white, or creamy, spotted with 

 lilac and reddish brown." 



Gray Kingbird, Piping Flycatcher. (Tyrannus domintcensis.) 

 Fig. 4. 



The usual habitat of the Gray Kingbird is in the West Indies, 

 Florida, and to the Carolinas. "Their flight," says Audubon, 

 " is performed by a constant flutter of their wings, unless when 

 the bird is in chase, or has been rendered shy, when it exhibits a 

 power and speed equal to those of any other species of the genus. 

 During the love season, the male and female are seen rising from 

 a dry twig together, either perpendicularly, or in a spiral manner, 

 crossing each other as they ascend, twittering loudly, and conduct- 

 ing themselves in a manner much resembling that of the Tyrant 

 Flycatcher. When in pursuit of insects, they dart at them with 

 great velocity. Should any large bird pass near their stand, they 

 immediately pursue it, sometimes to a considerable distance. I 

 have seen them, after teasing a Heron or Fish Crow, follow them 

 nearly half a mile, and return exulting to the tree on which they 

 had previously been perched. Yet I frequently observed that the 

 approach of a White-headed Pigeon or Zenaida Dove, never ruf- 

 fled their temper. To the Grackles they were particularly hos- 

 tile, and, on all occasions drove them away from their stand, or 

 the vicinity of their nests, with unremitting perseverance. The 

 reason in this case and in that of the Fish Crow was obvious, fo 

 these birds sucked their eggs or destroyed their young whenevei 

 an opportunity occurred. 



' ' They place their nest somewhat in the manner of the King-bird, 

 that is, on horizontal branches, or in the large fork of a mangrove, 

 or bush of any other species, without paying much attention to its 

 position with respect to the water, but with very singular care to 

 place it on the western side of the tree, or of the islet. . • • 



