BIRD ARCHITECTURE.. 27 



to the branches. "It is built into an upright fork, 

 the small twigs that surround it being made avail- 

 able to secure it more firmly in its place by being 

 encircled with the stringy fibres. In this particular 

 of position correspond all of the nests of this bird 

 I have seen, as well as those of pusillus in the west." 



Such, in brief, is the account given of the typical 

 nidification of Empidonax trailli the country over, 

 by its latest monographer. But some additional ex- 

 planation is necessary to get at a full knowledge of 

 this mutable bird. 



For instance, criticising the above account by Hen- 

 shaw, so far as it applied to Maine, Mr. H. A. Purdie 

 writes in a succeeding number of the Bulletin of the 

 Nuttall Ornithological Club, that in New England the 

 nest of Traill's flycatcher is "placed between the up- 

 right shoots of low bushes from one to five feet from 

 the ground, and is loosely constructed of grasses 

 throughout, including the lining; it is a much less 

 compact nest even than that of the indigo-bird, though 

 perhaps smaller in the average." Further on Mr. 

 Purdie says : "I have lately seen nests and eggs of 

 both E. acadicus and E. trailli collected at Columbus, 

 Ohio, by Dr. J. M. Wheaton. Singularly enough, 

 that of the former (E. acadicus) bears a close resem- 

 blance in its structure to that of Maine specimens of 

 Traill's flycatcher, while the compact, felted character 



