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Range (Eastern North America breeds) (XI)

Eastern North America; breeds from Berkshire County, Mass., to Labrador; winters in Central America.

Washington, rather common T. V., May 1 to May 31; Aug. 1 to Oct. 1. Sing Sing, common T. V., May 17 to June 4; Aug. 8 to Sept. 20. Cambridge, T. V., sometimes rather common, May 24 to June 5; Aug. 25 to Sept. 10. Nest, of moss, lined with grasses, on the ground, beneath the roots of a tree or imbedded in moss. Eggs, four, creamy white, with numerous pale cinnamon-brown markings, chiefly about the larger end, 68 x 54. To see this little Flycatcher at his best, one must seek the northern evergreen forest, where, far from human habitation, its mournful notes blend with the murmur of some icy brook tumbling over mossy stones or gushing beneath the still mossier decayed logs that threaten to bar its way. Where all is green and dark and cool, in some glen overarched by crowding spruces and firs, birches and maples, there it is we find him, and in the beds of damp moss he skillfully conceals his nest. He sits erect on some low twig, and, like other Flycatchers, the snap of his bill tells of a sally after his winged prey. He glides quietly away when approached, and his occasional note of complaint FLYCATCHERS. may be heard as long as one remains in his vicinity. During the migration this species is silent and its several distinctive notes are not available for its identification, and the same thing may be said of our other small Flycatchers. Great similarity in plumage exists between them all, and without the bird in hand identifications are at best questionable.

The song is more suggestive of a sneeze on the bird's part than of any other sound with which it may be compared. It is an abrupt psě-ěk', almost in one explosive syllable, harsh like the deeper tones of a House Wren, and less musical than the similar but longer songs of Traill's or the Acadian Flycatcher. It is hardly surprising that the birds sing very little when we see with what a convulsive jerk of the head the notes are produced, Its plaintive call is far more melodious -a soft, mournful whistle consisting of two notes, the second higher pitched and prolonged, with rising inflection, resembling in a measure chū-ê-ē'-p.

J. DWIGHT, JR. 465. Empidonax virescens (Vieill.).* ACADIAN FLYCATCHER. Ad. -Upper parts between olive-green and dark olive-green; wings and tail fuscous; greater and lesser wing-coverts yellowish white, forming two conspicuous wing-bars; under parts white, washed with pale yellowish and slightly tinged with greenish on the breast; the throat, and frequently the middle of the belly, pure white; upper mandible black, lower mandible whitish or flesh-color; second to fourth primaries of about equal length, the first and fifth shorter and also of equal length. Im. - Upper parts greener; under parts more tinged with yellow; wing-bars and outer edges of the tips of the secondaries ochraceous-buff. L., 5.75; W., 2.85; T., 2·35; B. from N., 36.