THE YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATGIIEE. 297 



of the nest and of the moss bed in which it rested, and his investigation disclosed 

 the fact that the mosses which abounded immediately aljout the nest had not 

 been utilized as buildino- material. As determined by Professor Eaton, the 

 species of moss composing the bed were Hypnum umhratiun, Hypnum aphndens, 

 Hypnum schreberi, Hypuitni crlsta-castrensls. Those appearing in the nest were 

 Hypnum muUeriaiuini, Eypnum muldenbecldi (?), Bicraiinm lonyifolium, TJkranum 

 flayeUare, Polytrichum commune, and Polytrkhumformosuni. With these occuiTed 

 the following Hepaticee: Mastlgobryum trilohatum, Scapjunia alhtcans, and Cepha- 

 lozia bicuspidata. In addition there were found among the materials of construc- 

 tion catkin scales of the birch, leaA^es of the balsam, and fragments of the dried 

 pinnae of ferns; but, as suggested by Professor Eaton, the presence of some 

 of these was probably accidental. Springing from the verdant moss beds 

 immediately about the nest were scattered plants of Oxalis acetosella, TrientaUs 

 amerkana, Solidago thyrsoklea, and CUntonia borealis."^ 



I am indebted to Dr. William L. Ralph for the opportunity of studying the 

 nesting habits of this interesting Flycatcher. While on a tour of observation 

 in the southwestern portions of the Adirondack mountains in Herkimer County, 

 New York, while passing through a swamp}' piece of mixed woods which was 

 free from undergrowth in this particular spot, but mostly covered with dense 

 alder thickets in the immediate vicinity, a nest and four eggs of this sjiecies was 

 found on June 17, 1892. The nest was placed among the upturned roots of a 

 medium-sized spruce tree, to which considerable soil, which was entirely covered 

 with a luxuria7'.t growth of spagnum moss, was still attached. This perpendic- 

 ular moss and fern covered surface measured about 6 by 8 feet. The nest Avas 

 sunk into the moss and soil behind, about 14 inches above the ground; the 

 entrance was partly hidden by some ferns and the growing moss around it, and, 

 taken all in all, it was one of the neatest and most cunningly hidden pieces of bird 

 architecture I have ever seen. I might have walked ]:)ast a dozen times without 

 noticing it. It contained four eggs, in which incubation was about one-thii-d 

 advanced. The entrance was nearly circular, and measm-ed about 1^ inches 

 hi diameter. The inner cup of the nest itself measiu-ed about 2 inches in 

 diameter and IJ inches in depth. It was composed of fine grasses and a few 

 black, hair-like rootlets and flower stems of mosses. A couple of days after 

 finding this nest a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was seen flitting about the upturned 

 roots of a tree about 150 yai'ds from where the "first was taken, but a most 

 careful search failed to reveal the location of the nest, if a second pair bred 

 there. 



On a subsequent visit to the same locality, on June 8, 1893, a second nest 

 was found, containing two eggs ; these were left until June 10, when there were 

 fom-. This nest was placed not over 100 feet from the former, and was probably 

 built by the same pair of birds which nested there the previous year. The 

 nesting site was in a swampy AAOod, composed mostly of spruce and tamarack 

 trees, in a slight hollow in the side of and at the foot of a small mound about one 



'Transactions Linna;an Society, Vol. I, 1882, pp. 161, 162. 



