258 
FLYCATCHERS 
compared with those of borealis, in which the dark sides are sharply con¬ 
trasted with the white median line ; it also lacks the conspicuous cottony 
rump tufts of borealis. 
Distribution. — From mountains of central and southern Arizona, south 
through northwestern Mexico. 
Nest. — As far as known, of grass tops, moss, lichens, catkins, leaves, 
spider’s web, fragments of insects and their exuviae, placed on an oak or 
pine branch 15 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs: On one record, 3, cream 
huff, spotted in a ring around the larger end with brown and lilac gray. 
Food. — Flies, beetles, and other insects. 
Iu the mountains of southern Arizona Mr. Henshaw found the 
Coues flycatcher in the pines or in rocky gulches of mixed pine and 
oak, launching out from the branches, circling around the high pine 
stubs, and making the sudden erratic flights from point to point 
which are especially characteristic of the species. 
Its notes, though similar to those of the olive-sided flycatcher, 
Mr. Henshaw says, can easily be distinguished from them, the last 
syllable being prolonged and raised. 
461. Contopus virens (Linn.). Wood Pewee. 
Adults. — Upper parts grayish brown, tinged with olive ; two wing bars 
dull whitish; under parts whitish , more or less washed with olive gray 
and tinged with pale yellowish; wing at least six times as long as tarsus , 
tarsus longer than middle, toe with claw; exposed culmen much less than 
twice the width of bill at nostrils. Young : with buffy or brownish -wing 
bars. Length 5.90-6.50, wing 3.00-3.45, tail 2.50-2.90, exposed culmen 
.43-.52, width of bill at base .24-.30, tarsus .48-.53. 
Distribution. — Breeds from southern provinces of Canada to Florida, 
and from the Atlantic west to the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas; mi¬ 
grates through eastern Mexico to South America. 
Nest. — Usually in deciduous trees 5 to 50 feet from the ground, made 
largely of plant fibers, rootlets, and moss, coated with lichen. Eggs: 2 to 
4, white, irregularly wreathed around larger end with browns and purples. 
Food. — Insects, including grasshoppers, locusts, and caterpillars. 
The wood pewee is sometimes met with west of the hundredth 
meridian in Texas, and though it is almost indistinguishable from its 
western congener in coloration and habit, its notes identify it the 
instant they reach the ear. The call of the western is a common¬ 
place pueer , but that of the wood pewee is a plaintive musical 
pee-ah-wee. 
462. Contopus richardsonii (Swains.). Western Wood Pewee . 1 
Adults. — Upper parts dark grayish brown ; under parts heavily washed 
with dark gray ; belly and under tail coverts whitish 
or pale yellowish ; wing at least six times as long as 
tarsus ; tarsus longer than middle toe with claw; ex¬ 
posed culmen much less than twice the width of bill. 
1 Contopus richardsonii saturatus Bishop. Alaskan Wood Pewee. 
Like richardsonii but darker, with smaller bill. 
Distribution. — Yukon Valley, southern Alaska and British Columbia, near the coast 
in summer, migrating south through California. ( The Auk, xvii. 116.) 
Fig. 334. 
