The Western Flycatcher 
and legs brownish dusk}'; iris 
brown. Young birds are 
browner above and paler 
below; wing-bars cinnamon- 
huffy (and not certainly dis¬ 
tinguishable in color from 
young of E. trailli brewsteri). 
Length 127-139.7 (5.00- 
5.50); wing 67 (2.64); tail 57 
(2.24); bill 12 (.47); width at 
nostril 5.4 (.21); tarsus 17 
(.67). 
Recognition Marks.— 
Warbler size; characterized 
by pervading yellowness. 
Adults always more yellow 
than E. trailli brewsteri , from 
which it is not otherwise cer¬ 
tainly distinguishable (save 
by note). Note: a soft pis- 
wit; a woodland recluse. 
Really the easiest, because 
the most common of this 
difficult group. 
Nesting. — N e s t : 
Chiefly of moss, lined with 
fine bark-strips, rootlets, or 
fine grasses; placed in any 
convenient cranny, but 
chiefly in well-sheltered 
niches of banks or upturned 
tree-roots, or broken stubs 
near streams. Eggs: 3 or 
4, rarely 5; pale creamy 
white, or buffy, spotted and 
marked, chiefly in loose 
wreath, or rarely blotched 
with light reddish brown (pecan-brown to mikado brown, or onion-skin pink to orange- 
cinnamon). Av. size 16.8 x 12.95 (-66 x .51). Season: April-June; one or two 
broods. 
WESTERN FLYCATCHER 
Range of Empidonax difficilis. —Western North America south to southern 
Mexico. 
Range of E. d. difficilis. —Breeds from southeastern Alaska (Glacier Bay), 
southeastern British Columbia, Montana, and the Black Hills in Dakota, south to 
western Texas and southern California; winters in Mexico. 
Distribution in California. —Early migrant nearly throughout the State. 
Common summer resident in Upper Sonoran and Transition zones, chiefly west of 
the Sierran divide. Only records of occurrence in summer east of the Sierran divide 
879 
