The Hawkeye Ornithologist axd Oologist. 



the streets of towns and villages; and 

 especially is it to be found frequent- 

 ing the margins of watercourses in 

 the vicinity of bridges, where it is al- 

 ways sure to find a suitable nesting 

 place, and under some of these struc- 

 tures, which span the streams on 

 every road, a nest is found. It is an 

 expert insect catcher, and generally 

 captures its victims on the wing, by a 

 series of darting evolutions, though 

 it will also alight upon the grass or 

 drop down among the grain in prder to 

 secure a prized morsel, and at times 

 it may be observed skimming over 

 the plowed fields in quest of its favo- 

 rite food. Those who choose the 

 woods as their summer habitat, make 

 their nests in the roots of fallen trees, 

 while those who prefer to abide near 

 the habitations of man, find nesting 

 places in the barn, th; wood shed, or 

 porch, or on some projection beneath 

 the eaves of the dwelling house. Its 

 nest has also been found in chimneys, 

 old wells, caves, sawmills, and on 

 pieces of bark hanging from logs 

 crossing streams. The nest is com- 

 posed externally of a species of moss 

 gathered from stones in damp places, 

 wool and fibers of bark; with a little 

 mud, and neatly lined with fine dry 

 grass and hair. The set of eggs, of 

 a white color, sometimes with a few 

 small reddish dots towards the large 

 end, is from four to six in number. 

 If the first effort at brood raising is 

 successful, it does not appear to nest 

 more than once in the season, other- 

 wise it will nest asecondtime. When 

 perching, either repeating its ditty or 

 watching for a passing insect, the 

 tail is constantly jerked up and down 

 with a wagging motion. In length, 

 this species is between six and seven 

 inches The plumage on the upper 

 parts is a dusty olive-black; darkest 

 on the head, the lower parts has a 

 lighter hue, the feathers on the head 

 are loose and crested, and there are 



short bristles at the base of the bill. 

 Though it is an early spring visitant; 

 yet it generally leaves this country 

 early in September, or as soon as the 

 first severe frost indicates the ap- 

 proach of autumn. 



THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. 



(Contomis Borealis.) 

 This bird is but rarely met with in this 

 section of country, and it seems 

 to be rather uncommon in any part 

 of Ontario as well as the other pro- 

 vinces of Canada, though solitary 

 individuals are generally met with in 

 various places every year. It has 

 always been in the early springtime 

 that I have observed it in the neigh- 

 borhood of Listowel. The first time 

 that I noticed a specimen of this 

 species, was seven or eight years ago. 

 It was among some fruit and orna 

 mental trees in front of a private res- 

 idence on Main street near the center 

 of the town; it was quietly seeking 

 its food, flying down to the ground 

 after some food- stuff, and as soon as 

 it had picked it up, returning to a 

 branch overhead, in a quiet, leisurely 

 manner. Some days after I saw it 

 again in a piece of low woods, a mile 

 east of the town. Two or three sea- 

 sons afterwards I saw another in a 

 piece of dry hard-wood, undergrowth, 

 southwards of this place. This was 

 also in the early springtime, before 

 the leaves had begun to make their 

 appearance on the trees. It may yet 

 become a summer resident in this 

 vicinity as several other species have 

 done in recent years. In the early 

 days of the past October, when at 

 Niagara Falls, soon after crossing the 

 bridges, from the mainland, on the 

 eastern side to Goat Island, and tak- 

 ing the road to the right towards the 

 cataracts I heard a rustling in the 

 leaves overhead, and looking up- 

 wards, saw at an elevation of about 

 twenty feet, a fine plumage individu- 

 al of the olive-sided flvcateher. It 



