THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 



(Contopus borealis.) 



The Olive-sided Flycatcher is a North 

 American bird breeding in the coniferous 

 ' forests of our Northern States, north- 

 ward into Canada and in mountainous 

 regions. It winters in Central and South 

 America. 



Like all Flycatchers, their food con- 

 sists almost exclusively of winged insects, 

 such as beetles, butterflies, moths and the 

 numerous gadflies which abound in the 

 places frequented by these birds. A dead 

 limb or the decayed top of some tall tree 

 giving a good outlook close to the nesting 

 site, is usually selected for a perch, from 

 which excursions are made in different 

 directions after passing insects, which 

 are often chased for quite a distance. 

 This Flycatcher usually arrives on its 

 breeding grounds about the middle of 

 -A lay, and its far-reaching call notes can 

 then be heard almost constantly in the 

 early morning hours and again in the 

 Four Birds & Nature Tues — Hammond 

 evening. Unless close to the bird, this 

 note sounds much like that of the wood 

 pewee, which utters a note of only two 

 svllables. like "pee-wee," while that of the 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher really consists of 

 three, like "hip-pin-whee." The first 

 part is uttered short and quick, while the 

 latter two are so accented and drawn out, 

 that at a distance the call sounds as if 

 likewise composed of only two notes, but 

 this is not the case. Their alarm note 

 sounds like "puip-puip-puip," several 

 times repeated, or "puill-puill-puill ;" this 

 is usually given only when the nest is ap- 

 proached, and occasionally a purring 

 sound is also uttered. 



Tall evergreen trees, such as nines, 

 hemlocks, spruces, firs and cedars, situat- 

 ed near the edge of an opening or clear- 

 ing in the forest, not too far from 

 water and commanding a good outlook, 

 or on a bluff along a stream, a hillside, 

 the shore of a lake or pond, are usually 

 selected as nesting sites by this species, 

 and the nest is generally saddled well out 

 on one of the limbs, where it is difficult 

 to see and still more difficult to get at. 



Only on rare occasions will this species 

 nest in a deciduous tree. 



While it appears tolerant enough to- 

 ward other species, it will not allow any 

 of its own kind to nest in close proximity 

 to its chosen home, to which it returns 

 from year to year. Each pair seems to 

 claim a certain range, which is rarely less 

 than half a mile in extent, and is usually 

 located along some stream, near the shore 

 of a lake, or by some little pond ; gen- 

 erally coniferous forests are preferred, 

 but mixed ones answer their purpose al- 

 most equally well as long as they border 

 on a body of water or a beaver meado.w 

 and have a few clumps of hemlock or 

 spruce trees scattered through them 

 which will furnish suitable nesting sites 

 and lookout perches. 



While on a collecting trip a nest of this 

 species was observed in a spruce tree and 

 about forty-five feet from the ground. 

 The birds betrayed the location of the 

 nest by their excited actions and inces- 

 sant scolding. They were very bold, fly- 

 ing close around the climber's head, 

 snapping their bills at him, and uttering 

 angry notes of defiance rather than of dis 

 tress, something like "puy-pip-pip." They 

 could not possibly have been more pug- 

 nacious. 



The nest was a well-built structure. 

 It was outwardly composed of fine, wiry 

 roots and small twigs, mixed with green 

 moss and lined with fine roots and moss. 

 It was securely fixed among a mass of 

 fine twigs growing out at that point of 

 the limb. 



As a rule the nests are placed at a con- 

 siderable height frcm the ground, usually 

 from forty to sixty feet, though occasion- 

 ally one is found that is not more than 

 twenty feet. 



In spite of their pugnacious and quar- 

 relsome habits these birds are so attached 

 to the localities they have selected for 

 their hemes that they will usually lay a 

 second set of eggs in the same nest from 

 which their first set has been taken. — 

 Adapted from Charles Bendire's Life 

 Histories of North American Birds. 



107 



