THE NEST AND EGGS OF THE YELLOW-BELLIED FLY- 
CATCHER (. EMPIDONAX FLAVIVENTRIS). 
BY H. A. PURDIE. 
Of the breeding habits of this bird published accounts are some- 
what meagre and unsatisfactory. In Baird, Brewer, and Ridg- 
way’s “ History of North American Birds,” Dr. T. M. Brewer states 
that he found a nest of this species at Grand Menan placed in the 
fork of a low alder-bush. It was built loosely of soft bark-strips, 
lined with light-colored grass, and much resembled the nest of the 
common Indigo Bird. Other nests collected at Halifax were in low 
hushes and composed of “stubble.” The eggs were chalky-white, 
unspotted, and more oblong than those of the Least Flycatcher 
(. Empidonax minimus). Eggs, however, found by Mr. G. A. Board- 
man at Calais, Me., were dotted with reddish-brown. Dr. Coues, in 
“ Birds of the Northwest,” simply says : “ The egg of flaviventris is 
pure white, unmarked, and not distinguishable from that of E. mini- 
mus .” But he writes me, “ I know nothing of the nest and eggs 
of E. flaviventris, but what I have read.” In “ Ornithology of the 
Clarence King Survey ” (Vol. IY, p. 544) Mr. Ridgway, in a foot-note 
to the Western Yellow-bellied Flycatcher ( E . diflicilis), remarks : “It 
is with little hesitation that we consider this bird as distinct spe- 
cifically from E. flaviventris. Not only are there very conspicuous 
and constant differences in proportions and colors (especially the 
PURDIE on the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 
167 
former), but numerous observers have noticed remarkable and 
important peculiarities in the nesting habits, the present species 
almost invariably building its nest in cavities, either of stumps, 
trees, or rocks, or on beams inside of buildings, — a habit not yet 
noticed in E. flaviventris, nor, indeed, in any other species of the 
genus.” That at least the nesting habits of the two are not always 
different, I think the following will show. 
On a collecting trip made by Mr. Ruthven Deane and myself to 
Houlton, Aroostook County, Me., during the second and third 
weeks in June of this year, we were fortunate enough to secure the 
much-desired nest and eggs of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. For 
its possession we are under obligations to Robert R. McLeod, Esq., 
and to one of his collectors, Mr. James Bradbury, who discovered the 
nest, both surrendering all claim to the prize, but desirous that a 
description should be given for the benefit of all interested. 
Mr. Bradbury informed us that he had found, on June 15, a nest 
unknowm to him with one egg. On the 18th he conducted us to 
the edge of a wooded swamp, and, pointing to the roots of an up- 
turned tree, said the nest was there. We approached cautiously, 
and soon saw 7 the structure and then the sitting bird, which ap- 
peared to be sunken in a ball of green moss. Our eager eyes were 
within two feet of her, thus easily identifying the species, when she 
darted off ; but, to make doubly sure, Mr. Deane shot her. There 
was no mistake ; we at last had a genuine nest and eggs of the 
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. A large dwelling it was for so small 
and trim a bird. Built in and on to the black mud clinging to the 
roots, but two feet from the ground, the bulk of the nest was com- 
posed of dry moss, while the outside was faced with beautiful fresh 
green mosses, thickest around the rim or parapet. The home of 
the Bridge Pewee ( Sayornis fuscus) was at once suggested. But 
no mud entered into the actual composition of the nest, though at 
first we thought so, so much was clinging to it when removed.* 
The lining was mainly of fine black rootlets, with a few pine-needles 
and grass-stems. The nest gives the following measurements : 
depth inside, one and one half inches ; depth outside, four and a 
quarter inches ; circumference inside, seven and a quarter inches. 
The eggs, four in number, were perfectly fresh, rounded oval in 
* Dr. J. G. Cooper has said that the Western bird uses mud for the shell of 
its nest. He has, however, written me that he was mistaken, and that earth is 
not employed. 
