Ash-throated Flycatcher 265 
Description.—General colour above greyish-brown, less ashy on the 
crown, which is crested, the feathers being longer and somewhat pointed ; 
wings darker, the secondaries edged with dull whitish, the primaries 
with cinnamon-rufous ; breast very pale ashy-grey, abdomen and under 
tail-coverts very pale yellow; tail with the outer web of the outer 
feather almost white ; the inner web cinnamon-rufous with brown tips. 
Length 7-50; wing 4-00; tail 3-50; tarsus -95; culmen -70. 
The female is very similar, but is slightly smaller; the young are 
essentially like the adults. 
Distribution.— Breeding in the western United States from 
southern Wyoming and Oregon southwards to northern Mexico ; 
in winter through central and southern Mexico to Yucatan and 
Guatemala. 
The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a rare summer resident in Colorado, 
and is more frequently met with in the southern portion of the State ; 
there are several examples, taken in May and June, in Fremont co., 
in the Aiken collection, where it is not uncommon in the cedar and 
pifion country; it was once noticed by Warren in Baca co., while 
Gilman observed ‘‘ one in spring,’ in La Plata co. North of the 
Arkansas divide it seems to be rare, but, according to Cooke, has been 
taken by Osburn at Golden, and by Bond at Cheyenne, just over the 
northern border of the State. Warren met with it at Douglas Spring 
in Routt co., and at Dotsero in Garfield co., while Sullivan reports it 
to be rather a rare summer resident at Grand Junction from May 2nd 
to August 22nd ; he was unable to find the nest, though he had little 
doubt it bred in the neighbourhood (Rockwell). It arrives from the 
south late in May and returns in September. 
Habits.—This Flycatcher is of a retiring disposition 
and not easily seen or flushed ; it frequents dense thickets 
along creek bottoms ; it is not very noisy, and its food 
consists chiefly of insects, with some berries. 
I have not met with any account of its nesting habits 
in Colorado, but Bendire states that it frequently makes 
use of the nests of other birds, such as the Cactus-Wren 
and the smaller Woodpeckers ; but that when it makes 
its own nest it is usually a bulky structure of rootlets, 
lined with hair, and that the eggs, three to six in number, 
are creamy to pinkish-buff, profusely covered with 
fine longitudinal streaks of dark purplish. 
