Reprinted from The Condor, Vol. XXVI, pp. 19S-197, September, 1924 



Notes upon Certain Summer Occurrences of the Gray Flycatcher.— In the re- 

 cently published "Birds of California," Mr. Dawson's description of the nesting habits 

 of the Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax griseus) attracted my attention at once, it was so 

 strongly in accord with certain unpublished data in this Museum, which, as it hap- 

 pened, I had just had occasion to bring together. While this information has no longer 

 any claim to originality, as pointing to the nesting ground of this hitherto elusive 

 species, it seems worth while to place it on record. It is all corroborative of Mr. Daw- 

 son's contentions. 



We have what appear to be breeding birds from the Pine Forest Mountain region, 

 northern Nevada; from the Warner Mountain region, northeastern California; and 

 from the White Mountain region, east central California. There are also series of 

 Empidonax wrighti from the same mountain ranges, and it was the presence of obvi- 

 ously mislabeled specimens in one series or the other that happened to attract my 

 attention. I then carefully went over all the specimens of wrighti and griseus in the 

 Museum collection, with interesting results. 



From the Pine Forest Mountains, Nevada, we have a fairly large series of E. 

 wrighti, mostly breeding birds from high altitudes. Included in this series I found four 

 specimens of griseus. Three of these (Mus. Vert. Zool. nos. 8561, 8562, 8563) were 

 breeding birds (from annotations on labels or in the collectors' notebooks) taken in 

 sagebrush at Quinn River Crossing, on May 22, May 29, and June 2, 1909, respectively. 

 One young bird, full grown but in juvenal plumage (no. 8580), was taken in the Pine 

 Forest Mountains at 9000 feet altitude, July 31, but this capture cannot be regarded as 

 constituting a breeding record. 



From the Warner Mountains, Modoc County, California, we have nine specimens 

 of wrighti, all breeding birds and all collected from 5500 feet altitude upward. Four 

 specimens of griseus were taken (June 9 and 10, 1910, and May 20 and 25, 1920, 

 respectively) in the valley below, in the general vicinity of Alturas. There is also a 

 breeding griseus from a nearby locality (mouth of Little High Rock Canon, Washoe 

 County, June 1, 1920) in the lowlands of Nevada. From the White Mountains, Cali- 

 fornia, we have thirteen specimens (breeding birds and young from the nest) of wrighti 

 taken at altitudes ranging from 8300 to 10,300 feet. These were originally catalogued 

 as griseus, but, although the color differences between this species and wrighti are 

 somewhat obscured in badly worn specimens, there is no doubt that all of these birds 

 are wrighti. From this same mountain range there are at hand five specimens of 

 griseus. Two of these, from the dates of capture, were certainly breeding birds. These 

 were taken July 5 and 7, 1917, respectively, "2% mi. s. e. of Head of Black Canyon," 

 at an altitude of 8000 feet. Despite the high elevation, this locality, I am informed, is 

 in the Transition Zone, with an abundant growth of sagebrush, so the species is not 

 necessarily out of place there. Two other adult griseus were taken, respectively, at 

 the head of Silver Canyon (altitude 10,000 feet), July 29, 1917, and again at the head 

 of Silver Canyon (altitude 8000 feet), August 21, 1917. It is not certain that they 

 were breeding at the exact places where they were collected. 



In an article in The Condor (vol. 24, July, 1922, p. 137) Dickey and van Rossem 

 record the capture of certain specimens of griseus in the White Mountains at high 

 elevations (8000 to 10,000 feet) and draw the inference that these birds (wholly or 

 partly in juvenal plumage), taken August 27, September 3 and 4, were probably 

 hatched somewhere in the near vicinity. This may or may not have been the case. As 

 before indicated, the Transition Zone ascends to 8000 feet in the White Mountains, 

 and griseus doubtless follows the sagebrush upwards. Any of these young birds, how- 

 ever, might have traveled many miles. I myself have collected juvenal plumaged birds 

 of various species (including Empidonax griseus) that must have gone a surprisingly 

 long distance from where they were hatched. It may sufHce to cite here, as an example 

 near at hand, a young Desert Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata deserticola) in juvenal 

 plumage throughout, that I collected above timber line in the Sierra Nevada, at Char- 

 lotte Lake (10,406 feet), near Kearsarge Pass, September 3, 1916. 



Some of the confusion that exists regarding the relationship of griseus and wrighti 

 is probably due to faulty observations in the field. This does not imply criticism of 

 those who have made observations in the past; for the two species, of course, require 

 the most painstaking discrimination; but future studies and records should be prefaced 



