14 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 9-No. 2 
admirable bravery, it snaps its little bij/at 
him. Even the swift Mocker never /ares 
to touch it. / 
Still another peculiarity is the .childish 
persistence with which it insists/ on going 
to rest at night always on the p4me perch, 
Having free range of the room, it chose 
the leather side of a comm/n wall-pocket 
as its perch, and now it will not be content 
anywhere else, but flie,/ about and cries 
till allowed to go to its ehosen place, when 
it settles down with /contented whisper- 
ings. After dark it is taken on a finger 
and put in its cagtefin satisfied peace. 
Though professedly a warbler, it sings 
but very little./ In. the morning when 
coffee is being/ground for breakfast, the 
music of the /ofiee-milJ\always charms it 
into song, a/d at other tipies it occasion- 
ally warble/ a little, the notes being always 
low and s/met, and sung in a, quiet, happy 
way, yet/as a singer it is not donspicuous. 
But as/a loving little pet, whose perfect 
love f/r its master and mistress }ias cast 
out /II fear, and yet whose brave heart 
fearfe no other bird, it is a pronounced suc- 
cess. — W. Gr. Wright, San Bernardino , 
y!al. \ 
Traill’s Flycatcher. 
{Empidonax pusillus Trailli.) 
Previous to 1878, when I found its nest, 
this bird was unknown to me. I continued 
to find one or two nests yearly up to 1882, 
when I found eleven, and in 1883, three, 
in all twenty nests. Three was the pre- 
vailing number of eggs, but one nest con- 
tained four. Several of the nests when 
found contained but one or two eggs, so 
they were left that the sets might be com- 
plete ; but it often happened upon a second 
visit that one or two, and sometimes all 
the eggs would be broken. I am satisfied 
that they were broken by the birds them- 
selves, as the Flycatcher disposition is well 
developed in this species. The ground 
color of the eggs is creamy white. The 
markings vary much in different sets ; 
some have large blotches, spots and mi- 
nute dots, others have small spots and mi- 
nute dots. The markings are sparingly 
scattered, principally at the larger end, 
and present many shades of red — brick- 
red, reddish-brown, and sometimes a faint 
lavender tint. 
Three sets measure as follow's : .77 X 
.56, .77X.55 ; .70X.5G, .75X.54, .77X.55; 
.77 X-55, .72 X .56, .70X.52. June 13, 
1879, is the earliest date I have found a 
nest containing eggs, and July 30, 1883, 
the latest. The eleven sets obtained in 
1882 were taken between June 20th and 
July 8th ; the three sets obtained in 1883 
were taken between July 14th and 30th. 
The nests, although lacking the solidity 
and durability of those of Empidonax 
minimus, are very pretty and interesting ; 
outwardly composed of dried grasses — 
slightly agglutinated to the forked twigs 
which support them, bits of cobweb, and 
rarely a dried leaf or bit of lint. The 
lining of fine dried grass, and rarely a 
horse-hair, is very neatly arranged. From 
most of the nests there was hanging from 
five to twenty spears of dried grass, vary- 
ing in length from three to ten inches, 
which evidently were left hanging at the 
commencement of building. An average 
nest measures as follows : Diameter, three 
and one-half inches ; height, two and one- 
half inches ; depth of cavity, one and one- 
half inches ; diameter, two inches. The 
site of the nest was invariably the upright 
fork of a small bush, varying from eighteen 
inches to three feet from the ground. 
Their favorite nesting localities' are low 
grounds, usually near a stream. A notable 
exception was a nest found on the top of 
a high hill, one and one-half miles from 
a stream. It was in the centre of a large 
tract, covered with a growth of briers, 
bushes, and scattering trees. The nests 
found one-half mile from a stream in a 
hill sheep pasture, differed from the others 
in having an abundant supply of wool 
Feb., 1884.] 
AND 0( 
mixed with the dried grass. This no 
doubt was a local characteristic, as the 
pasture was plentifully supplied with briers 
to which particles of wool adhered. The 
birds are very shy and uneasy. Leaving 
the nest at the first approach of an intru- 
der, they will secrete themselves in the 
nearest covert, where, uttering their un- 
musical notes, they give vent to their dis- 
pleasure. They spend most of their time 
in the coverts of bushes, showing their 
presence by frequently uttered notes, or by 
being seen darting after some passing in- 
sect. After the season of incubation is 
over, they become rapidly silent, and, dur- 
ing the remainder of their stay, their notes 
are heard only at rare intervals. By the 
middle of September none of them are to 
be seen, as they have left for the South. 
Their return in the Spring varies with the 
season, but is usually the last of May. — 
C. O. Tracy, Taftsville , Vt. 
O.&O.' EfciehJ8a4.p. 
