THE YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. 



{Empidonax fiaviventris.) 



The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher with the 

 kingbird, the phoebe and the wood pewee 

 belongs to a family of birds peculiar to 

 America — the family Tyrannidse or the 

 family of tyrants. No better name could 

 be applied to these birds when we take 

 into consideration the enormous number 

 of insects, of all descriptions, that they 

 capture and devour and their method of 

 doing it. They resemble the hawks in 

 some respects. They are at home only 

 where there are trees, on the outer 

 branches of which they can perch and 

 await a passing insect, and when one ap- 

 pears they "launch forth into the air; 

 there is a sharp, suggestive click of the 

 broad bill and, completing their aerial 

 circle, they return to their perch and are 

 again en garde." 



In the tropics, the land of luxuriant 

 vegetable growth, where the number and 

 kinds of insects seem almost innumerable, 

 the larger number of the three hundred 

 and fifty known species are found. In 

 the United States we are favored with 

 the visits, during the warmer months, of 

 but thirty-five species of these interesting 

 .and useful birds. 



As we would naturally expect of birds 

 of prey, whether hunters of insects or of 

 higher animal life, these birds are not 

 usually social, even with their own kind. 

 They are also practically songless, a char- 

 acteristic which seems perfectly fitted to 

 the habits of the Flycatchers. Some of 

 the species have sweet-voiced calls. This 

 is the case with the wood pewee, of which 

 Trowbridge has so beautifully written in 

 the following verse : 



"Long-drawn and clear its closes were — 

 As if the hand of Music through 

 The sombre robe of Silence drew 

 A thread of golden gossamer ; 



So pure a flute the fairy blew. 

 Like beggared princes of the wood, 

 In silver rags the birches stood ; 

 The hemlocks, lordly counselors, 

 Were dumb ; the sturdy servitors, 

 In beechen jackets patched and gray, 

 Seemed waiting spellbound all the day 

 That low, entrancing note to hear — 

 'Pe-wee! pe-wee! peer!'" 



The Flycatchers are fitted both in the 

 structure of their bills and in the colors 

 of their plumage for the kind of life that 

 they live. The bills are broad and flat, 

 permitting an extensive gape. They live 

 in trees and are usually plainly colored, 

 either a grayish or greenish olive, being 

 not so easily seen by the insects as if 

 more brightly arrayed. This character- 

 istic is known as deceptive coloration. 



The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher has its 

 summer home in eastern North America, 

 breeding from Massachusetts northward 

 to Labrador. In the United States it fre- 

 quents only the forests of the northern 

 portion and the mountain regions. In the 

 winter it passes southward into Mexico 

 and Central America. Like all the Fly- 

 catchers of North America, the very 

 nature of its food necessitates extensive 

 migrations. 



Its generic name is very suggestive. It 

 is Empidonax, from two Greek words, 

 meaning mosquito and a prince — Mos- 

 quito Prince ! 



Major Bendire says : "In the Adiron- 

 dack mountains, where I have met with 

 it, it was observed only in primitive 

 mixed and rather open woods, where the 

 ground was thickly strewn with decay- 

 ing, moss-covered logs and boles, and al- 

 most constantly shaded from the rays of 

 the sun. The most gloomy looking 

 places, fairly reeking with moisture, 

 where nearly every inch of ground is cov- 

 ered with a luxuriant carpet of spagnum 

 moss, into which one sinks several inches 

 at every step, regions swarming with 

 mosquitoes and black flies, are the locali- 

 ties that seem to constitute their favorite 

 summer haunts." Surely the name Em- 

 pidonax is most appropriate. 



The nest is usually constructed on up- 

 turned roots near the ground, or on the 

 ground deeply imbedded in the long 

 mosses. A nest belonging to the National 

 Museum is thus described : "The primary 

 foundation of the nest was a layer of 

 brown rootlets ; upon this rested the bulk 

 of the structure, consisting of moss 

 matted together with fine broken weed 

 stalks and other fragmentary material. 



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