Part 39

One can readily guess a utilitarian consideration in favor of ranch life, viz., the greater variety and abundance of insects afforded. Of these the Kingbirds enjoy a practical monopoly by reason of their confidence in man. They are fond of flies, moths, butterflies, crickets, winged ants, and all that sort of thing. Moreover, they eat bees. But,—[Hold on, Mr. Rancher! Don’t grab that shot-gun and begin murdering Kingbirds] _they eat only drones_. A bee-keeper in California was curious on this point and dissected over a hundred specimens of Western Kingbirds and Phœbes, using a microscope in the examination of stomach contents. The birds had been shot about the apiaries, where they had been seen darting upon and catching bees. Altho many of the birds were gorged, no working bees were found, only drones. This is an important distinction to bear in mind, for the reduction of drones is unqualifiedly beneficial. And when one stops to think of it, it is absurd to suppose that a bird could swallow bees, stings and all, with impunity.

But the real secret of Kingbird’s attachment for mankind is not discovered until we see his nest. It is our _strings_ which have won his heart. Whatever else the nest may or may not contain, it is sure to have string,—string in strands, string in coils, string in bunches, hanks, and tangles, drug store string of a dissipated crimson hue, white string that came around the sugar, greasy string that you had tied around your finger to remind you to feed the chickens, string of every length and size and use and hue.

Those Western Kingbirds which have not yet adopted men manage to subsist somewhat after the fashion of their eastern cousins, and build a nest of twigs, grass, weed-stalks, bark strips, and cottonwood down, placing it against the trunk, or saddling it upon a horizontal fork of willow, poplar, cottonwood, or pine, usually near water. One we found in Douglas County built in a small willow which emerged from a shallow lake, a hundred feet from shore.

But, more commonly, nests are placed about crannies and projections of farm buildings, fences, unused wagon-ricks, or upon the house itself. If no such conveniences offer, a shade tree is second choice, and the nest includes all the soft waste which the farm affords, bits of cloth, wool, cow-hair, feathers, _and string_.

Eggs to the number of 4 or 5 are deposited from the 1st to the 15th of June. Beauties they are too, creamy white with bold and handsome spots of chestnut in two shades, and lilac-gray. Incubation is accomplished in twelve or thirteen days, and the youngsters fly in a matter of two weeks.

These Kingbirds are model parents, devoted in brooding and courageous in defense. Noisy they are to a fault, garrulous in an unnumbered host of cajolatives and ecstatics, as well as expletives. Unlike the members of _Tyrannus tyrannus_, they are good neighbors even among their own kind. At the call of need neighbors rally to the common defense, but this is usually in villages where demesnes adjoin. On several occasions I have found other birds nesting peaceably in the same tree with these Kingbirds; and, as in the case of _T. tyrannus_, Bullock Orioles appear to be rather particular friends.

The nests shown in the cut on preceding page are the work of one pair of birds. Embarrassed by a wealth of string and unable to decide which of two good locations to utilize, the birds built in both; the female laid eggs in both, three in one and two in the other. Moreover, she sat in both, day and day about, a bird of a divided mind.

No. 144. ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER.

A. O. U. No. 454. Myiarchus cinerascens (Lawrence).

Description.—_Adults_: Above dull grayish brown changing to clear brown on crown; wings dusky brown, the middle and greater coverts tipped broadly, and the secondaries edged with pale buffy brown or dull whitish, the primaries edged, except toward tips, with cinnamon-rufous; tail darker than back, with paler grayish brown edgings, that of outermost rectrix sometimes nearly white; tail feathers, except central pair, chiefly cinnamon-rufous on inner webs; sides of head and neck gray (slightly tinged with brown) fading into much paler gray on chin, throat, and chest, changing to pale yellowish on breast and remaining underparts; yellow of underparts strengthening posteriorly, and axillars and under wing-coverts clear (primrose) yellow. Bill blackish; feet and legs black; iris brown. Length of adult male about 8.35 (212); wing 3.94 (100); tail 3.63 (92); bill .75 (19); tarsus .91 (23).

Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; brownish gray above; ashy throat shading into pale yellow of remaining underparts.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a natural cavity or deserted Flicker hole, copiously lined with wool, hair, or other soft materials. _Eggs_: 3-6, usually 4, buffy or creamy as to ground, but heavily marked, chiefly in curious lengthwise pattern, with streaks of purplish chestnut of several degrees of intensity. Av. size, .88 × .65 (22.4 × 16.5). _Season_: first week in June; one brood.

General Range.—Western United States and northern Mexico, north irregularly to Washington; south in winter thru Mexico to Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Breeding near North Yakima in summer of 1903; one other record, Tacoma May 24, 1905.

Authorities.—Snodgrass (R. E.), Auk. Vol. XXI, Apr. 1904, p. 229. B.

Specimens.—P. C.

Flycatchers are somewhat given to wandering, or at least exploring, on their own account, regardless of traditions. A Gray Kingbird (_Tyrannus dominicensis_), normally confined to the Gulf of Mexico, is of record for Cape Beale on Vancouver Island; and that dashing gallant, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, of Texas, has ventured as far north as Hudson Bay. The Ash-throated Flycatcher is typically a bird of the south-western United States; but it is not altogether surprising that it should have extended its northern range into the Upper Sonoran belt of eastern Washington, as it did in the season of 1903, when it was observed at North Yakima by Mr. Bowles, and, independently, by Mr. Robert E. Snodgrass, the latter collecting for Pullman College. Without precedent or excuse, however, was the appearance of a handsome pair near Tacoma, as recorded by Mr. Bowles, on the 24th day of May, 1905.

“The Ash-throated Flycatcher is quite expert upon the wing but never indulges in protracted flight if it can help it. It seems to be rather quarrelsome and intolerant in its disposition toward other birds, and will not allow any to nest in close proximity; in fact, I am inclined to believe that it not infrequently dispossesses some of the smaller Woodpeckers of their nesting sites.

“Its food consists mainly of beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, flies, moths, and occasionally of berries, especially those of a species of mistletoe.

“By the beginning of May most of the birds are mated, and nidification begins shortly afterward. The nests are usually placed in knot-holes of mesquite, ash, oak, sycamore, juniper, and cottonwood trees, as well as in cavities of old stumps, in Woodpeckers’ holes, and occasionally behind loose pieces of bark, in the manner of the Creepers.

“The Ash-throated Flycatcher nests at various heights from the ground, rarely, however, at greater distances than twenty feet. The nest varies considerably in bulk according to the size of the cavity used. Where this is large the bottom is filled up with small weed-stems, rootlets, grass, and bits of dry cow- or horse-manure, and on this foundation the nest proper is built. This consists principally of a felted mass of hair and fur from different animals, and occasionally of exuviæ of snakes and small lizards; but these materials are not nearly as generally used as in the nests of our eastern Crested Flycatcher—in fact, it is the exception and not the rule to find such remains in their nests” (Bendire).

No. 145. SAY’S PEWEE.

A. O. U. No. 457. Sayornis saya (Bonap.).

Synonyms.—Say’s Phoebe. Western Phoebe.

Description.—_Adults_: General color drab (grayish brown to dark hair-brown), darker on pileum and auriculars, lighter on throat, shading thru upper tail-coverts to black; tail brownish black; wings fuscous, the coverts and exposed webs of tertials edged with lighter grayish brown; underparts below breast cinnamon-buff; axillars and lining of wings light buff or cream-buff. Bill and feet black; iris brown. _Young birds_ are more extensively fulvous, and are marked by two cinnamomeous bands on wings (formed by tips of middle and greater coverts). Length of adult male 7.50 (190.5); wing 4.14 (105); tail 3.23 (82); bill .62 (15.7); tarsus .79 (20). Female averages smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; drab coloring; cinnamon-colored belly; melancholy notes; frequents barns and outbuildings or cliffs.

Nesting.—_Nest_: composed of dried grasses, moss, plant-fibers, woolly materials of all sorts, and hair; placed on ledges, under eaves of outbuildings, under bridges, or on cliffs. _Eggs_: 3-6, usually 5, dull white, occasionally sparsely dotted. Av. size, .77 × .59 (19.6 × 15). _Season_: April 20-May 10, June 1-15; two broods. Yakima County April 24, 1900, 5 young about five days old (eggs fresh about April 7th).

General Range.—Western North America north to the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Yukon Territory, etc., east to Manitoba, western Wyoming, western Kansas, etc., breeding thruout range, south to Arizona and northern Lower California; southward in winter over northern and central Mexico.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident east of the Cascades (chiefly in Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition life-zones), rare or casual west of the mountains.

Migrations.—_Spring_: c. March 15; Okanogan County March 17, 1896; Ahtanum (Yakima Co.) Feb. 20, 1900.

Authorities.—Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 277. (T). D¹. Kb. D². Ss¹. Ss². J. B.

Specimens.—P¹. Prov. C.

A gentle melancholy possesses the Pewee. The memory of that older Eden once blotted by the ruthless ice-sheet, still haunts the chambers of the atavistic soul and she goes mourning all her days. Or she is like a Peri barred from Paradise, and no proffer of mortal joys can make amends for the immortal loss ever before her eyes. _Kuteéw, kuteéw!_

In keeping with her ascetic nature the Pewee haunts solitary places, bleak hillsides swept by March gales, lava cliffs with their solemn, silent bastions. Or, since misery loves company, she ventures upon some waterless townsite and voices in unexpectant cadences the universal yearning for green things and cessation of wind.

A part of the drear impression made by this bird is occasioned by the time of year when it puts in an appearance, March at the latest, and, once at least, as early as February 20th (in Yakima County). Flies are an uncertain crop at this season, and it is doubtless rather from a desire for shelter than from inclination to society, that the species has so largely of late years resorted to stables and outbuildings. Twenty years ago Say’s Pewee was unknown as a tenant of buildings in Yakima County. Now, there are few well-established farms in that part of the State which do not boast a pair somewhere about the premises; while hop-houses are recognized as providing just that degree of isolation which the bird really prefers.

Say’s Pewee, for all its depressed spirits, is an active bird, and makes frequent sallies at passing insects. These constitute its exclusive diet save in early spring when, under the spell of adverse weather, dried berries are sought. Butterflies and moths are favorite food, but grasshoppers and beetles are captured as well; and the bird, in common with certain other flycatchers, has the power of ejecting indigestible elytra and leg-sheathings in the form of pellets.

The males arrive in spring some days in advance of the females. Courtship is animated in spite of the melancholy proclivities of the bird; and the male achieves a sort of song by repeating _ku-tew_’s rapidly, on fluttering wing. Besides this, in moments of excitement, both birds cry _Look at ’ere_, with great distinctness.

Eggs are laid by the 10th of April and usually at least two broods are raised, in this latitude. In the natural state these Pewees nest about cliffs, at moderate heights, and in shallow caves. In selecting a site, they show a decided preference for a cliff which enjoys the protection of nesting Prairie Falcons. A stout bracket of twigs, weed-fibers, lichens, and other soft substances, is constructed, and a luxurious lining of wool and hair is supplied; but the whole must be partially shielded by some projecting tooth or facet of stone, or artificial construction.

The author in taking his first (and only) set of Say Pewee eggs selected a nest on the south wall of Brook Lake, reached only by canoe. The floor of an old Cliff Swallow’s nest, placed in a shady niche at a height of some twelve feet, formed the support of the Pewee’s accumulations. The cliff was perfectly straight, but by dint of half an hour’s work piling lava blocks and securing footholds, with the aid of a double-bladed paddle he succeeded in reaching the nest. Requiring the use of both hands in descent, he placed the four fresh eggs in his hat, and the hat in his teeth, reaching the ground safely and depositing the hat carefully. Tired out by the exertion he flung himself down upon the narrow strip of shore and rested. Then noting the rising wind, he sprang up, seized the coat and hat and—Oh! Did something drop?!! Yes, gentle reader, the eggs were in it,—but only one was smashed. Only one! As perfect the arch without its keystone as a “set” of eggs with the guilty consciousness of one missing!

No. 146. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.

A. O. U. No. 459. Nuttallornis borealis (Swains.)

Description.—_Adult_: Upperparts brownish slate with a just perceptible tinge of olivaceous on back; top of head a deeper shade, and without olivaceous; wings and tail dusky-blackish, the former with some brownish gray edging only on tertials; flank-tufts of fluffy, yellowish or white feathers, sometimes spreading across rump and in marked contrast to it, but usually concealed by wings; throat, belly and crissum, and sometimes middle line of breast, white or yellowish white; heavily shaded on sides and sometimes across breast with brownish gray or olive-brown,—the feathers with darker shaft-streaks; bill black above, pale yellow below; feet black. _Immature_: Similar to adult, but coloration a little brighter; wing-coverts fulvous or buffy. Length 7.00-8.00 (177.8-203.2); wing 4.16 (105.7); tail 2.64 (67.1); bill from nostril .53 (13.5); tarsus .59 (15).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow to Chewink size; heavy shaded sides; bill yellow below; _tew-tew_ note; keeps largely to summits of fir trees.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a shallow cup of twigs, bark-strips, etc., lined with coarse moss and rootlets; saddled upon horizontal limb of coniferous trees, often at great heights. _Eggs_: 3 or 4, creamy-white or pale buff, spotted distinctly with chestnut and rufous, and obscurely with purplish and lavender, chiefly in ring about larger end. Av. size, .85 × .63 (21.6 × 16). _Season_: June 1-15; one brood.

General Range.—North America, breeding from the northern and the higher mountainous parts of the United States northward to Hudson Bay and Alaska. Accidental in Greenland. In winter south to Central America, Colombia and northern Peru.

Range in Washington.—Summer resident in coniferous timber from sea level to limit of trees.

Migrations.—_Spring_: c. May 15.

Authorities.—_Contopus borealis_, Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, p. 189. Ibid C&S. 169. C&S. D¹. Kb. Ra. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.

Flycatchers belong to the sub-order _Clamatores_, that is to say, Shouters. Some few of our American Flycatchers lisp and sigh rather than cry aloud, but of those which shout the Olive-sided Flycatcher is easily dean. And it is as an elocutionist only that most of us know this bird, even tho our opportunities may have stretched along for decades. On a morning in mid May, as surely as the season comes around, one hears a strong insistent voice shouting, “_See here!_” There is not much to see, save a dun-colored bird seated at an impossible height on the summit of a tall fir tree. Its posture is that easy half-slouch which with the Flycatchers betokens instant readiness for action. While we are ogling, the bird launches from his post, seizes an insect some thirty feet distant, and is back again before we have recovered from surprise. “_See here!_” the bird repeats, but its accent is unchanged and there is really nothing more to see.

An intimate acquaintance with the Olive-sided Flycatcher is not easily attained; but its characteristic cry carries to a distance of half a mile or more, and is, fortunately, quite unforgettable. Both in accent and energy it seems to set the pace for several of the lesser Tyrants. Of course, like many another of the voices of Nature, its interpretation depends a good deal upon the mood of the listener. Heard on a dull day at sea-level it may sound dismal enough, but heard in the sharp air of the mountains it becomes an exultant note. There are miners in the heart of the Cascades who regard the brisk evening greeting of this Flycatcher as one of the compensations of solitude. “_Three cheers!_” the bird seems to say to one who returns from the silent bowels of the earth and grasps again the facts of outer life.

_Borealis_ is a bird of the tree-tops and nearer you cannot come, save in nesting season, when caution is thrown to the winds and a study in morbid psychology is all too easy. The birds place a rustic saucer of interwoven black rootlets and mosses on the upper side of a horizontal branch, whether of hemlock, fir, or cedar, and, as often as otherwise, at moderate heights. They are very uneasy at the presence of strangers and flit about with a restless, tittering, cry, _tew-tew, tew-tew_, or _tew-tew-tew_, a sound which strangely excites the blood of the oölogist. Once the nesting tree is made out and the ascent begun, the birds are beside themselves with rage, and dash at the intruder with angry cries, which really stimulate endeavor where they are intended to discourage it.

How fatal is the beauty of an egg-shell! There be those of us who have drunk so oft of this subtle potion that the hand goes out instinctively to grasp the proffered cup. Besides, the product of an Olive-side’s skill is of a very special kind—a rich cream-colored oval, warmed by a hint of living flesh and splotched with saucy chestnut. It is irresistible! But, boys, don’t do it! We are old topers ourselves; public sentiment is against us, and our days are numbered. It is right that it should be so. Besides that, and speaking in all seriousness now, while it is desirable and necessary that a few representative collections of natural history should be built up _for the public use_, it does not follow that the public good is secured by the accumulation of endless private hordes of bird’s-eggs—whose logical end, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, is the scrap-heap. You are probably one of the ninety-nine. Think twice before you start a collection and then—don’t!

No. 147. WESTERN WOOD PEWEE.

A. O. U. No. 462. Myiochanes richardsonii (Swains.).

Synonyms.—Short-legged Pewee. Richardson’s Pewee.

Description.—_Adults_: Above deep grayish brown or grayish olive-brown; a lighter shade of same continued around sides and across breast, lightening on chin and throat, on remaining underparts becoming white or yellowish white; middle and greater coverts tipped with grayish; outer webs of tertials edged with grayish white. Bill black above, dusky (never light) below. _Young birds_ have the middle and greater coverts tipped with buffy (forming two not inconspicuous bars), and some buffy edging on rump and upper tail-coverts. This species bears a curiously close resemblance to _M. virens_ of the East, insomuch that it is not always possible to separate specimens in the cabinet; yet the two are perfectly distinct in note and habit and are not suspected of intergradation. Length of adult males 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.43 (87); tail 2.60 (66); bill .51 (13); tarsus .53 (13.4). Females a little smaller.

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; dark coloration (appearing blackish),—but much darker and a little larger than any of the _Empidonaces_. _Meezeer_ note of animated melancholy distinctive.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a shallow cup of compacted moss, grasses, rootlets, etc., lined with fine grasses and wool or hair, and decorated externally, or not, with lichens; saddled midway or in fork of horizontal limb, chiefly at moderate heights. _Eggs_: usually 3, sometimes 4, creamy white, marked by largish spots of distinct and obscure rufous brown or umber, chiefly in open wreath about larger end. Av. size, .71 × .55 (18 × 14). _Season_: June 10-July 10; one brood.

General Range.—Western North America; breeding north to Alaska and Northwest Territory, east to Manitoba and western portion of Great Plains to Texas, south to northern Mexico; south in winter over Mexico and Central America to Equador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident and migrant east of the Cascades, chiefly in coniferous forests, occasionally in open sage; less common west of the mountains.

Migrations.—_Spring_: c. May 15; Tacoma May 5, 1907; Yakima May 14, 1895, May 15, 1900; Newport May 20, 1906; Conconnully May 27, 1896. _Fall_: c. Sept. 1.

Authorities.—[“Western Wood Pewee,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.] ? _Muscicapa richardsonii_, Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, pl. 434. [_Contopus richardsonii_, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 189, 190. “Columbia River O. T. J. K. Townsend.”] _Contopus richardsonii_(_?_) Belding, L. B. P. D. 1890, p. 99 (Walla Walla, Dr. J. W. Williams). L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B. E.

The prey of gentle melancholy and the heir to gloom is this Pewee of the West. The day, indeed, is garish. The leaves of the fragrant cottonwoods glance and shimmer under the ardent sun; while the wavelets of the lake, tired of their morning romp, are sighing sleepily in the root-laced chambers of the overhanging shore. The vision of the distant hills is blurred by heat pulsations; the song of birds has ceased and the very caddis-flies are taking refuge from the glare. The sun is dominant and all Nature yields drowsy allegiance to his sway. All but Pewee. He avoids the sun, indeed, but from a sheltered perch he lifts a voice of protest, “_Dear Me!_”