The Vermilion Flycatcher 
life burst cover; and the little tyrant, breasting the sun, now flutters with 
exaggerated wing-motion, thinking only of display and not at all of 
progress, and now pours forth his soul in that stirring song, tutty tutty 
tutty zziingh. This last is a marvelous, vibrant sound, sufficient in itself 
to entitle the performer to a decoration. There is not the smallest 
doubt, either, that the performance is for the lady’s benefit; for after 
several passages of such aerial address, the gallant turns homeward, or 
lady ward, to claim applause. 
In watching the antics of a certain Vermilion dandy, I saw him resort 
twice to a tiny fork on a horizontal branch, remote from any possible 
proximity of a mate, and indulge in a very peculiar set of motions, bowing 
and turning, and lying supine with outstretched wings and dangling feet. 
Careful reflection showed the act to be an outcropping, through suggestion, 
of what we call a secondary sex character, viz., a demonstration of the nest¬ 
building instinct, excited by the presence of an especially attractive site. 
The nest 
of a Vermilion 
Flycatcher is 
a fairy cre¬ 
ation—rather 
a shallow cup 
outlined bold¬ 
ly with twigs, 
bodied with 
frayed grasses 
and weathered 
weed-barks. 
It is lined ex¬ 
quisitely with 
feathers, and 
the whole 
structure is 
cemented, as 
well as bound 
to its moor¬ 
ings, with a 
copious supply 
of cobwebs. 
Egg-laying is 
___ . very likely to 
commence be¬ 
fore the nest is 
Taken in Arizona 
Photo by the Author 
NEST AND EGGS OF VERMILION FLYCATCHER 
9*4 
