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Sept (Sing Sing rare T V May to May)

25. Sing Sing, rare T. V., May 19 to May 31; Aug. 29. Cambridge, rare T. V., May 25 to May 31; Aug.

Nest, of coarse grasses, plant down, and plant fibers, lined with fine grasses, in the crotch of a small bush or sapling near the ground. Eggs, three to four, creamy white, with cinnamon-brown markings about the larger end, 73 x 54.

While the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is distinctively a bird of the deep woods, this more abundant Flycatcher in its summer home resorts to the alder patches of the open country and is seldom found far from their protecting shade. It flits restlessly about, keeping well out of sight below the waving tops of the bushes, and its presence is betrayed only by a single pěp of alarm that in no way resembles the mournful wail of the species just mentioned. It, too, is silent when migrating, and on its breeding grounds sings but little, so that if it did not take pains to call out to every one who passes it would not be noticed among the rustling alders. The song most resembles that of the Acadian Flycatcher, an ee-zee'-e-up, with stress on the rasping zēē, the latter part more musical. The performer jerks out the notes rapidly, doubling himself up and fairly vibrating with the explosive J. DWIGHT, JR. effort.

NOTE.-In The Auk for April, 1895, Mr. William Brewster shows that the specific name pusillus (Swains.), hitherto applied to the western form of this Fly- FLYCATCHERS. catcher, is not identifiable. Muscicapa traillii was described by Audubon from Arkansas, and Mr. Brewster considers specimens from Arkansas and the Mississippi Valley south of latitude 42° as inseparable from those inhabiting the region westward to the Pacific, to which he would therefore apply the name Empidonax traillii. In brief, the form previously known as E. pusillus becomes E. traillii, and the Mississippi Valley birds south of latitude 42°, which formerly were considered the same as those from the Atlantic States, are placed with the western rather than the eastern bird. This course leaves the eastern bird without a name, and Mr. Brewster proposes to call it Empidonax traillii alnorum; Alder Flycatcher.

Western specimens average somewhat browner than eastern ones, and have slightly larger bills, but, in my opinion, the differences are too slight to warrant their continued separation, and I would apply the name traillii to both. 467. Empidonax minimus Baird. LEAST FLYCATCHER; CHEBEC. Ad.-Upper parts between olive-green and olive or olive-brown; wings and tail fuscous; greater and lesser wing-coverts tinged with ashy white; under parts whitish, washed with dusky grayish on the breast and sides and generally with a slight tinge of yellowish on the belly; lower mandible generally horn-color. Im. - Under parts slightly more yellow. L., 5.41; W., 2.51; T., 2-21; B. from N., 31.