466 LAND BIRDS 



In the summer its food consists of grasshoppers, large 

 black crickets, wood ants, larvae, wild strawberries and 

 raspberries, cherries, acorns, pine seeds and juniper ber- 

 ries. Where grasshoppers and Mayflies abound, it will 

 gather these insects and stick them into cracks in the 

 bark to be eaten later. 



Unlike most woodpeckers, this species have the habits 

 of the flycatcher, darting out to catch an insect on the 

 wing and returning to the perch on the top of a dead 

 pine tree. The young remain in the nest three to four 

 weeks, and are fed upon insects and fruit by the parents 

 for some time after leaving. 



After the breeding season is over the Lewis gradually 

 makes his way with his young into the higher moun- 

 tain forests, where they remain in flocks until the cold 

 weather of late September sends them toward the 

 valleys. 



471. VERMILION FLYCATCHER. — Pj/rocepAato 



ruhinus mexicanus. 



Family • The Flycatchers. 



Length: 5.50-6.25. 



Adult Male : Head of male with crest ; upper parts, except top of head, 



brownish gray, darker on wings and tail ; crown and under parts 



bright scarlet. 

 Adult Female: Upper parts brownish gray ; under parts whitish ; breast 



streaked with grayish ; belly tinged with pale red or sahnon. 

 Young: Upper parts grayish, feathers edged with whitish ; under parts 



whitish, streaked across the breast. 

 Geographical Diatribution: Jlexico, Southern and Lower California to 



Central America, north to Sonthwestern Utah and Nevada. 

 Breeding Range : If at all in California, this flycatcher breeds in the 



vicinity of the Colorado River near Fort Yuma. Breeds in Utah, 



Arizona, New Mexico, and Southwestern Texas. 



