Empidonax traillii alnorum.
Lake Umbagog
1907.
July.
  The Alder Flycatcher is one of the commonest of birds a-
bout the outskirts of the farms at the foot of Lake Umbagog, and a-
long the road leading thence to Errol in one direction and to Graf-
ton in the other. It is found somewhat more sparingly in B Meadow,
on the banks of the Androscoggin near Leonard's Pond and, no doubt,
in a few other semi-open or bush-grown places not far from the lake.
It is a very retiring bird, much oftener heard than seen. Occa-
sionally one will mount to the top of a dead tree or stub and perch
there for minutes at a time, perhaps in blazing sunshine, every now
and then launching out in pursuit of a flying insect. But this,
does not happen often for, as a rule, the bird remains closely hid-
den at all times in its favourite thickets. These may be made up
chiefly of alders or of low growing willows or perhaps of young
sapling trees of various kinds. If they are a trifle swampy or
springy the Alder Flycatcher will like them all the better although
it sometimes occurs in high well drained localities. At the height
of the breeding season it is very noisy at all hours but immediate-
ly after its arrival in May and towards the close of its brief stay
in our region it is not often heard except at morning and evening
when it sings and calls at earlier and later hours than do most
other birds. I have noted the commoner variants of what I take to
be its song as follows: Quee-queer, quee-ah, quee-wish, quee-wishy.
All these notes are so strongly emphasized that it is difficult,
as in the case of the Chebec cry of the Least Flycatcher, to de-