The Ash-throated Flycatcher 
In May or early June, according to altitude, these Crested Fly¬ 
catchers select some cavity in a tree and line it copiously with soft mater¬ 
ial, chiefly the hair of animals,—rabbit-fur, cow-hair, deer-hair, and the 
like. The female does all the work, transporting her materials by great 
beakfuls, while the male dances close attendance and keeps a sharp 
lookout for enemies. A rubbing-post for cattle yields good returns in 
hair, while a native tannery, where deer-hair has been accumulating, 
is treasure trove for the birds. The amount of furnishing depends, 
of course, upon the size 
of the “house.” If a 
hollow limb is eight 
inches across inside, it 
must needs be filled up 
at whatever cost; while 
one authority records a 
nest behind a sprung 
bark-scale, which was 
only two and a half 
inches in diameter. 
Knot holes in oak-trees, 
sycamores, or cotton¬ 
woods, at any height up 
to forty feet, are favorite 
places. In the more 
desert portions of the 
bird’s range, holes in 
mesquite, juniper or 
Taken in Riverside County Photo by the Author . , . i 
iron-wood must do 
"I C’N ALMOST REACH 'EM. DAD" , ., , . , 
NESTING SITE OF ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER Stillt, OT CISC, US in tUe 
valley of the Colorado, 
the deserted woodpecker holes in the columns of the giant cactus. 
Of the Ash-throated Flycatcher as a neighbor, Captain Bendire 
says, 1 “It seems to be rather quarrelsome and intolerant in its disposition 
toward other birds, and will not allow any to nest in close proximity; 
in fact I am inclined to believe that it not infrequently dispossesses some 
of the smaller Woodpeckers, like Dryobates scalaris bairdi, of their nesting 
sites, as I have found its nests on two occasions in newly excavated 
holes, the fresh chips lying at the base of the tree, showing plainly that 
they had only recently been removed.” 
During the period of incubation, which lasts fifteen days, the female 
has no need to be tended by the male, and he makes himself very scarce 
1 Life Histories of N. A. Birds, Vol. II., p. 267. 
866 
