EMPIDONAX FLA V1VENTRIS. 
191 
the young are strong enough to fly well, for, although I have a single specimen obtained 
in Pennsylvania as late as the ninth of September, I was unable to find any during the 
last week in August and look upon the one captured as a straggler. 
EMPIDONAX FLAVIVENTRIS. 
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 
Empidonax flaviventris Baird, Birds N. A.; 1858, 198. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, rather slender. Size, small. Sternum, not stout. Tongue, thin and flat but not horny, bifid at tip 
but not provided with terminal cilia. Bill, short. Stomach, muscular, walls'15 thick. Larynx, provided with a thick 
and strong sterno-trachealis. Bronchialis, quite well developed, but there are no traces of either division of the broncho- 
trachealis. 
Color. Adult in spring. Above, including upper tail coverts, decidedly greenish-olivaceous, darkest on the head 
where the feathers show dusky centers. Wings and tail, brown, with the outer edges of all the feathers greenish. Tips, 
edges of the terminal two thirds of the secondaries, outer edges and tips of the tertiaries, tips of two rows of wing coverts, 
forming bars, yellowish-white, with the upper bar inclined to be of a deeper yellow. Beneath, including under wing and 
tail coverts, greenish-yellow with the sides, flanks, and an indistinct band across breast, olivaceous. There is a greenish- 
yellow ring around the eye, but the lores are olivaceous. Bill, brown, yellow on lower mandible. Feet, brown. 
Adult in autumn. Inclined to be darker above, more dusky below, and the yellowish markings on the wings are much 
darker. 
Young of the year in autumn. Quite dark above but yet decidedly greenish. The light markings of the wings are 
quite yellow and broader than in the adult, otherwise similar. 
Nestlings. Quite slaty above, and much lighter below, being nearly white, and the darker areas are slaty. The ring 
around the eye and the markings on the wing are fully as bright as in the more adult stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Specimens of the same age and season do not vary much, but the form of the bill varies slightly. This is the greenest 
of our Eastern Flycatchers and may be distinguished at once by the smaller size, and yellow colors below. In preparing the 
descriptions of the smaller Flycatchers, I have examined a large number of specimens, not only from my own collection, 
but Messrs. H. A. Purdie, Wm. Brewster, W. B. Dowse, T. H. Brackett, and the Bangs Brothers have kindly allowed me 
to study the skins of this genus which were in their possession. Distributed in summer throughout Eastern United States, 
north of the latitude of Massachusetts and possibly along the mountain ranges into Pennsylvania. Winters in South 
America. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of five specimens frcm Upton, Maine. Length, 5'35; stretch, 8‘40; wing, 2‘68; tail, 2'07: bill, 
•75; tarsus, - 42. Longest specimen, 5‘55; greatest extent of wing, 8‘70; longest wing, 2*75; tail, 2-15; bill, '82; tarsus, "45. 
Shortest specimen, 5 - 10; smallest extent of wing, 7 , 90; shortest wing, 2'60; tail, 2*00; bill, ‘66; tarsus, '40. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, (From description kindly given me by Mr. H. A. Purdie.) placed under the shelter of roots of upturned trees or 
in bunches of moss, composed of moss, lined with black rootlets, pine needles, and grass. Dimensions, external diameter, 
3’50, internal, 2‘50. External depth, 4*25, internal, U50. 
Eggs, five in number, rounded-oval in form, creamy-white in color, spotted with light reddish-brown. Dimensions 
from - 75 x '50 to ‘78 x '55. 
HABITS. 
I have described the preceding species of Flycatcher as inhabiting deep glens and as 
being fond of the obscure light of the woods, but the Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are most 
decidedly, of all the genus, the true children of the shade, for they are seldom found else¬ 
where than in the thickest swamps. Even in these secluded retreats, they avoid the tops 
of the bushes, keeping well down in the dense foliage, often perching within a foot of the 
