NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 305 



457. SAY'S FHCEBE. Sayornis saya (Bonap.) Geog. Dist.— Western United 

 States from the Great Plains to the Pacific, north to the Saskatchewan, south to 

 Mexico. 



A bird of an extended distribution in Western United States, and possessing the 

 same general traits common to the Eastern Pewee. Col. Goss records this species 

 as a summer resident In Western Kansas, and styles it "a bird of the plains." Be- 

 gins laying the last of May. Dr. Coues says that it is common in open or rocky 

 country, where It is seen singly or in pairs; the principal flycatcher of unwooded 

 regions; in weedy, brushy places, displaying the usual activity of its tribe, and 

 Tittering a melancholy note of one syllable, or a tremulous twitter. Like 8. phfehe, 

 it has been found nesting in hollow trees, in caves and recesses of rocks, in outbuild- 

 ings or abandoned dwellings. Sometimes, with the familiarity of the Eastern spe- 

 cies, it will build its nest on a porch of a dwelling whose Inmates are almost con- 

 stantly in sight. Occasionally two broods are reared in a season. Mr. Bryant men- 

 tions a nest found by Mr. Walter Bliss at Carson, Nevada, placed within and close 

 to the entrance of a deserted Bank Swallow's burrow. The composition of the nest 

 varies more or less according to the locality in which it is built; vegetable fibres, 

 soft grasses, spiders' webs, etc., are the principal materials, and the shallow cavity 

 ■ is lined with feathers and hair. The eggs are four or five in number, white, with an 

 average size of .75x.57. A set of four eggs, taken near Banning, California, May 19, 

 1884, measure .75x.61. .77x.61. .75x.61, .76x.59. 



458. BLACK PHCBBE. Sayornis nigricans (Swains.) Geog. Dist. — Southwest- 

 ern United States and Mexico — Texas, through Southern New Mexico and Arizona 

 to California, northward along the coast to Oregon. 



This bird's general color is like that of the "Black" Snowbird, Junco hyemalis, 

 now called Slate-colored Junco. It is an abundant species throughout California, 

 Southern Arizona and New Mexico, and its general habits are much the same as 

 those of the common Phoebebird; the nests are also constructed in similar situations 

 as those of the Eastern species — in caves, on ledges of rocks, under bridges, in de- 

 serted dwellings, etc. The bird is found more or less abundantly along streams, 

 and is said to prefer the vicinity of human habitations. Mr. Walter E. Bryant 

 records a pair of these birds that built for two consecutive years in a well, four feet 

 below the surface. The first year a second nest was built after the first had been 

 taken. Four or five eggs are laid. A set of four eggs is in my cabinet, taken April 

 26, by Mr. S. C. Evans, from a nest in a barn at San Jose, California. Two of them 

 are, white, unmarked, and the other two are sparsely dotted at the larger end with 

 light reddish-brown: their sizes are .73x.59, .80x.59. .81x.57. .80x.58. 



459. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHEK. Contopus borealis (Swains.) Geog. 

 IHst. — North America at large, north even to Greenland, south in winter to Central 

 America and Columbia. 



The Olive-sided Flycatcher, apparently nowhere abundant — at least ic seems to 

 •escape the notice of observers — Is very rare in the Middle and Southern States, but 

 less so in the West. It frequents the coniferous woods of the mountain districts and 

 those of the lowlands, breeding from Northern United States northward. In some 

 localities of New England the Olive-sided Flycatcher is rather common, where 

 numerous instances of its nesting are recorded. It has been found breeding in New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Northern Minnesota. Colonel Goss says it is a rare sum- 

 mer resident of Kansas. The nest is usually built in evergreen trees, frequently at a 



21 



