THE BAY STATE OOLOGIST. 



Nesting of the Traills and Acadian 

 Flycatchers. 



BY PHILO W. SMITH, JR., GREENVILLE, ILL. 



For the nformation of beginners, I 

 will give a few notes on the nesting 

 habits of these two closely allied spe- 

 cies. They caused me no little trouble 

 some years back, and it was not until 

 I had seen the nests and eggs of both 

 species in the collection of a friend of 

 mine, that I discovered my mistake. 



Up to that time, I had always sup- 

 posed that Trailli laid pure white eggs 

 and was a more eastern variety. I nev- 

 er couhl quite understand why Acadicus 

 should construct such vastly different j 

 nests, even after several seasons of suc- 

 cessful collecting, during which I se- 

 cured several hundred sets of eggs of 

 these two species, which are quite plen- 

 tiful in ihis locality. 



They are numbered among our spring 

 arrivals, and immediately after reaching 

 here seek their chosen localities. Acad- 

 icus is somewhat shy and retiring in 

 habits, frequenting heavy timber and 

 as a rule, near water j while Trailli is 

 just the reverse, frequenting orchards, 

 hedges and the like, free from heavy 

 timber. 



They both utter the same peculiar 

 notes by which they may be readily 

 distinguished from other birds, and 

 which serves as a guide in searching for 

 their nests. These are sometimes very 

 difficult to find owing to the dense fo- 

 liage that abounds at the time of their 

 nesting, which is invariably in June. 



Acadicus in this section generally 

 prefers an oak or wild plum tree in 

 heavy timber in which to place its nest, 

 which is always between a fork at the 

 end of a limb. The nest is always com- 

 posed of "roller" grass or the catkins 

 the hickory, and is fastened at the 

 rim with the aid of cob-webs. The 

 bottom is unsupported, and the shal- 



low nest is so frail and thin, that the 

 eggs may frequently be] seen from be- 

 low. 



Some nests are quite elaborate and 

 handsome. I have one that is made 

 entirely of the reddish-brown catkins 

 of the hickory, and which hang in fes- 

 toons from the nest. Then again, they 

 are so frail and shallow that I have oft- 

 en wondered how it held the three 

 egg: ; much less the young it might 

 have contained. The average number 

 of eggs, I find to be three ; have often 

 found four; rarely five and some- 

 times two. 



The nest is placed on an average of 

 from fifteen to twenty feet from the 

 ground ; have found them as high as 

 thirty-five feet and as low as five feet. 

 Upon examination of several hundred 

 nests have never found them to vary to 

 any great extent from the above in con- 

 struction and location. 



Now for Trailli. In this locality it 

 is much more numerous than the pre- 

 ceedmg, and is not near as retiring in 

 its habits. Its nest may be found about 

 June i. In orchards and along hedges 

 are their favorite resorts, as well as a 

 creek-bank or slough, where there are 

 plenty of willows, crab-trees and under- 

 growth ; but free from timber. 



The nest is an elaborate affair com- 

 pared with that of Acadicus. It is 

 warm and compactly built, as a rule 

 being composed of fine grasses, shreds 

 of weeds and thistle down ; lined with 

 fine grass and an occasional feather. 

 The outside appearance of the nest re- 

 sembles that of the Yellow Warbler. 

 They vary considerably in shape and 

 material ; some are most entirely com- 

 l posed of fine grass, while others show a 

 preponderance of weed shreds ; some 

 j are deep while others are shallow. 



The average number of eggs is four, 

 ' though thred and five are quite frequent- 

 j ly found. The nests are generally lo- 

 cated from three to twelve feet from 

 the ground. The eggs of the two spe- 



