other times they are very shy. The notes and sounds uttered by the Western bird Dr. Cooper states to be the same as those of the Eastern species, and with the same grotesqueness. They leave the State of California on or before the first of September.
Dr. Gambel states that the Chat appears in California about the middle of April, resorting to the hedges, vineyards, and bushy portions of gardens to breed.
Mr. Xantus found a nest of this bird (S. I., 896) at Fort Tejon, California, in May. It is a very symmetrical and exactly circular nest, six inches wide and three in height. The cavity has a diameter of three inches at the brim, and a depth of two. It is built of soft strips of bark, large stems, and branches of dry plants, leaves, twigs, and other vegetable substances. These are very neatly and compactly interwoven. The nest is elaborately lined with finer stems and flexible grasses. Another nest (S. I., 1816), obtained at Neosho Falls, Kansas, by Mr. B. F. Goss, is of irregular shape. Its height is four inches, and its diameter varies from three and three quarters to five inches. It was built in a depression in the ground, and its shape adapted to its location. The base is composed entirely of leaves, impacted when in a moist and decaying condition. Within these is interwoven a strong basket-like structure, made of long and slender stems, strips of bark, and fine rootlets, lined with finer grasses and stems of plants.
A nest of this species from Sacramento is composed, externally, of fine strips of inner bark of the grape and of deciduous trees, coarse straws, stems of plants, twigs, and dried remains of weeds, etc. It is lined with finer stems and long wiry roots, resembling hair. This nest has a diameter of four inches and a height of three. The cavity has a diameter of three inches at the rim, and a depth of two.
In regard to this variety Mr. Ridgway writes: “In no respect that I could discover does this Western bird differ from the Eastern in habits, manners, or notes. The nesting-habits are exactly the same.”
The eggs of this species are, for the most part, larger than are those of the virens. They vary in length from .95 to 1.00 of an inch, and have an average breadth of .70 of an inch. Their markings do not differ essentially in shadings from those of the common species.
Subfamily SETOPHAGINÆ.
Gen. Char. Sylvicoline birds with the characters of Flycatchers; the bill notched at tip, depressed and broad at the base, though quite deep; the rictus with well-developed bristles reaching beyond the nostrils, sometimes to the end of the bill. First quill rather less than the fourth, or still shorter. Size of the species rarely exceeding six inches. Colors red, yellow, and olive.
The species of this section resemble the small Flycatchers of the family
Tyrannidæ in the structure of the bill, etc., and in the habit of capturing insects more or less on the wing, though they are more restless in their movements, seeking their prey among trees or in bushes, rapidly changing their place, instead of occupying a perch and returning to it after pursuing an insect through the air. The yellow or orange crown found in many species also carries out the analogy; but the strictly Oscine characters of the tarsal scutellæ and the nine primaries will serve to distinguish them.