SMALL HEADED FLYCATCHER. 239 



count, as for the sake of one to whom we are so deeply indebted for his elu- 

 cidation of our ornithology. 



I consider this Flycatcher as among the scarcest of those that visit our 

 middle districts; for, although it seems that Wilson procured one that "was 

 shot on the 24th of April, in an orchard," and afterwards "several individu- 

 als of this species in various quarters of New Jersey, particularly in swamps," 

 all my endeavours to trace it in that section of the country have failed, as 

 have those of my friend Edward Harris, Esq., who is a native of that 

 State, resides there, and is well acquainted with all the birds found in the 

 district. I have never seen it out of Kentucky, and even there it is a very 

 uncommon bird. In Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, or farther east- 

 ward or southward, in our Atlantic districts, I never saw a single individual, 

 not even in museums, private collections, or for sale in bird-stuffers' shops. 



In its habits this species is closely allied to the Hooded and Green Black- 

 capt Flycatchers, being fond of low thick coverts, whether in tbe interior 

 of swamps, or by the margins of sluggish pools, from which it only removes 

 to higher situations after a continuation of wet weather, when I have found 

 it on rolling grounds, and amid woods comparatively clear of under-growth. 



Differing from the true Flycatchers, this species has several rather pleasing 

 notes, which it enunciates at pretty regular intervals, and which may be 

 heard at the distance of forty or fifty yards in calm weather. I have more 

 than once seen it attracted by an imitation of these notes. While chasing 

 insects on wing, although it clicks its bill on catching them, the sound thus 

 'emitted is comparatively weak, as is the case with the species above men- 

 tioned, it being stronger however in the Green Blackcapt than in this or the 

 Hooded species. Like these birds, it follows its prey to some distance at 

 times, whilst at others, it searches keenly among the leaves for its prey, but, 

 I believe, never alights on the ground, not even for the purpose of drinking, 

 which act it performs by passing lightly over the water and sipping, as it 

 were, the quantity it needs. 



All my efforts to discover its nest in the lower parts of Kentucky, where 

 I am confident that it breeds, have proved fruitless; and I have not heard 

 that any other person has been more successful. 



Small-headed Flycatcher, Muscicapa minuta, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vi. p. 62. 

 Sylvia minuta, Bonap. Syn., p. 86. 



Small-headed Sylvan Flycatcher, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 296. 

 Small-headed Flycatcher, Muscicapa minuta, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 291. 



Wings short, the second quill longest; tail of moderate length, even; gene- 

 ral colour of upper parts light greenish-brown; wings and tail dark olive- 

 brown, the outer feathers of the latter with a terminal white spot on the inner 



