The Western Flycatcher 
appear to be the following: Warner Mountains (Grinnell) [Not found there by author 
in 1912]; Mammoth Camp, Mono County, June 7, 1919 (author). Most common 
in humid coastal strip from San Francisco Bay south; and in foothill sections of San 
Diego district. Found on floors of higher Sierran valleys in midsummer, and probably 
indulges in some altitudinal “migration” (Vidette Meadows, alt. 9700, July 5, 1913; 
Ivenawyers, July 8, 1913, breeding; Dougherty Meadows, alt. 9700, July 15, 1913). 
Casual (?) in San Diego district in winter. 
Migrations. —Spring arrivals: Santa Barbara, March 16, 1911; Mar. 16, 1912: 
Mar. 21, 1913; Mar. 20, 1915; Mar. 15, 1916. 
Authorities.—Gambel (Tyrannula pusilla), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. 
iii., 1847, p. 156 (Los Angeles); Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds, vol. ii., 1895, p. 298, 
pi. ii., figs. 24, 25 (eggs); Oberholser , Auk, vol. xiv., 1897, p. 300 ( Empidonax insulicola, 
new sp.; type locality, Santa Rosa Island); Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. v., 
1908, p. 77 (San Bernardino Mts.; habits, association, nest); Beal, U. S. Dept. Agric., 
Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 44, 1912, p. 55 (food). 
PLEASE OBSERVE the scientific name, difficilis, that is, “diffi¬ 
cult.” There is a delicate irony about the use of this term as a distinctive 
appellation for one of the “gnat kings”; for, surely, the plural, Empido- 
naces dfficiles , would comprehend them all. As a matter of fact, difficilis 
is the least difficult of the group, not alone because it is the most widely 
distributed and familiar in the West, but because its under-plumage is 
definitely tinged with yellow, and its notes preserve a fairly distinctive 
character. 
The Western Flycatcher is the first of the Empidonaces to arrive 
in the spring, the local breeders appearing in the San Diegan district as 
early as the 16th of March; and on the northern borders of the State 
some two weeks later, when the yellow-green racemes of the Large-leafed 
Maple ( Acer macrophyllum) are first Hung out to the breeze. The little 
fay publishes his arrival at once, but so closely does he keep to the shady 
depths of the trees, and so perfectly does he blend in with the tender 
hues of new foliage, that we hear him twenty times to once we see him. 
The notes are little explosive sibilants fenced in by initial and 
final “p” or “t” sounds. If one prints them, they are not at all to be 
vocalized, but only whispered or hissed, pssseeit, psswit, or piswit. Other 
variations are se a-wit, slowly and listlessly; psur-wit , pensively; awee ut, 
petulantly; and cleotip, briskly; kushchtlip, a fairy sneeze in Russian. 
One becomes familiar with these tiny cachinations, and announces the 
Western Flycatcher, unseen, with some degree of confidence. There is, 
besides, a sharp metallic chup of anxiety heard at nesting time, which 
is sparrow-like in vigor and quite out of keeping with anything else 
Empidonacine. 
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