THE ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. 



[Myriachus cinerascens.) 



The flycatchers form a strikingly 

 characteristic group. Acting and look- 

 ing alike, the various species ''seem al- 

 most to be brothers and sisters from t-he 

 same nest, varying in size and in other 

 ways only as much as brothers and sis- 

 ters do in other than bird-famiUes." 

 While watching for insects from the 

 perch upon some bare twig, they remain 

 perfectly quiet and with drooping tail 

 seem almost as if in deep slumber. That 

 they are not asleep but keenly watchful, 

 is shown on the approach of a fly, or 

 other insect, when they quickly launch 

 forth and the insect is caught, for the 

 bird seldom fails. Wherever there are 

 trees, there also the flycatchers may be 

 found. These birds belong to a family 

 that is strictly American and is called 

 Tyrannidae by the ornithologists. 



The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a spe- 

 cies of western North America, rang- 

 ing from Oregon southward into Mex- 

 \zo and Central America. Its breed- 

 ing and geographical ranges are the 

 same. However, it is only a summer 

 resident within the United States. This 

 migratory characteristic of the bird's 

 habits is more striking, for it does not 

 seem to be afifected by climatic condi- 

 tions. ''It is as much at home in the 

 mountain fastness of the southern Sierra 

 Nevadas, where Lieutenant Benson 

 found it breeding commonly in the Se- 

 quoia National Park, in Tulare County, 

 California, at an altitude of nine thou- 

 sand feet, as in Death Valley, probably 

 the hottest place in the United States, 

 where a pair of these birds were seen at 

 Furnace Creek, on June 21, 1891, bv 

 Dr. A. K. Fisher." 



This Flycatcher is shy and, like most 

 of its sister species, is inclined to lead 

 a solitary life. Not only does it not as- 

 sociate with its own kind, but it is also 

 very intolerant toward other birds that 

 frequent the solitude of the thickets and 

 groves in whicli it lives. Mr. Oliver Da- 



vie says : "It is usually sole possessor 

 of the tree in which its nest is built, all 

 intruders are violently assailed and com- 

 pelled to retreat." In Arizona, Captain 

 Charles Bendire found that their favor- 

 ite haunts "Were the denser mesquite 

 thickets in the creek bottoms, oak groves 

 along hillsides, and the shrubbery in 

 canyons leading down from the moun- 

 tains, but I also saw them occasionally 

 on the more open plain covered with 

 straggling mesquite trees and patches of 

 choUa and other species of cacti." 



The nests of this Flycatcher are usu- 

 ally placed in knotholes, or other cavi- 

 ties, in trees of almost any species that 

 grow in the locality which it frequents. 

 Mesquite, cottonwood, oak, sycamore and 

 ash trees are among some of the species 

 which it has selected for the site of its 

 home. It also nests in the abandoned 

 holes of woodpeckers and occasionally, 

 like the creepers, it finds an abiding place 

 beneath large pieces of loose bark. This 

 Flycatcher has also been observed nest- 

 ing in the "dry blossom-stalks of the 

 yucca and the century-plant in south- 

 western New Mexico." 



The nest of the Ash-throated Fly- 

 catcher is placed at various heights from 

 the ground, though seldom at a greater 

 elevation than twenty feet. The size of 

 the nest varies also. If the hole is of 

 large dimensions it is partly filled with 

 stems, roots, grass and other available 

 matter, and upon this the nest is built. 

 The walls of the nest usually consist of 

 matted hair and fur which is sometimes 

 lined with feathers. Unlike the eastern 

 crested flycatcher, the Ash-throated spe- 

 cies seldom uses, in the construction of its 

 nest, the exuviae of reptiles. Regarding 

 the nesting habits of the Ash-throated 

 Flycatcher, Captain Bendire says : "As 

 nearly as T have been able to observe, I 

 think the female does most of the work 

 on the nest, but the male follows her 

 around while in search of material and 



