For The Hawkeye O. and O. CANADIAN FLYCATCHERS.
BY WM. L. KELLS, LISTOWEL, ONTARIO.
TRAILL’S FLYCATCHER.
(Empidonax pusillus Trailli.)
In size and general appearance, this species closely resembles the wood pewee; but its habitat and mode of nesting are much different. It does not frequent the back-woods nor the high timbered places; and not until a thick second-growth of low underwood succeeds the original forest in low swampy places does it make its appearance in the central districts of Ontario. Then it is so shy and wary, darting off into the deepest concealment whenever its haunts are invaded by the presence of human kind, that were it not for its noisy notes, it would scarcely be known to exist.
It arrives in this vicinity toward the end of May, when its haunts are being clothed with the emerald foliage of summer, and when it can the more easily conceal itself from observation, which it appears to dread. Then, however, the rapidly repeated “wick-we-o” of the male, as he perches on some elevated, but shady branch, intimate its presence, and that his mate has probably chosen the neighboring thicket for her summer home, while should this be penetrated, her sharp “twick,” repeated in a repellant tone, gives the intruder to understand that she is there, and that his presence is not welcome.
It is very active in its movements, and darts through the shrubbery with the rapidity of a flash. It appears to subsist chiefly on insects, many of which it captures on the wing after the manner of its family. It is only in recent years that this species has become a summer resident of this vicinity; and in the particular places where it chooses to reside, it seems yearly to be more common. In the manner and position of its nest, it differs from all the other Canadian flycatchers. This is placed in deep concealment among the thick foliage of the particular shrub, bush or underwood in which it is built, and if the first efforts at brood raising are successful, it does not appear to nest again that season, but if otherwise, it will try again. Its first nest may be found the early part of June, but its efforts at reproduction appear to cease after the month of July, and it becomes silent as August advances.
On the 19th of July, 1885, my boys reported to me they had found the nest of a new kind of bird in a piece of low woods on the farm opposite Wildwood. They stated that the bird was nearly as large as a hermit thrush, but more like a flycatcher; that the nest—placed in a low blue beech—was like an indigo bird’s, but that the three eggs which it contained, were like those of a vireo. Eager to ascertain what this new discovery might be, I returned with the boys to the nesting place, and though the owner was absent, I saw at a glance that it was a discovery new to me. The nest was placed in the fork of a small blue beech, three feet off the ground, well concealed among the leaves and surrounding raspberry vines. It was composed externally of wool and coarse grasses; and lined with fine dry grass and some horsehair. The three eggs were of a whitish-yellow hue, with a few redish dots toward the large end. Now, anxious to see the owner of this nest, I took a ramble through the wood, where I heard and saw the male bird, and when I returned the female flushed off the nest and darted into the neighboring thicket, and for some time I supposed this species to be the olive sided flycatcher, but learning my mistake, I became certain that it was the Trailli, and have since been confirmed in this identification. The next summer, about the 20th day of June, within a few yards of the above mentioned place, I found in the forks of a small swamp elm, about four feet off the ground, another nest of the same species; much the same in composition, and containing three fresh eggs, similar in hue and markings. And on the same day, a few rods further in the wood, another nest of this species, containing three young a few days old. This nest, however, was in the forks of a red-maple sapling about nine feet off the ground, and some of the coarse grass stalks of which it was composed hung down nearly a foot from the bottom of the nest. Last season I failed to discover any nests of this species, though I found the birds in several other places.
THE LEAST FLYCATCHER.
(Empidonax minimus.)
This species, in general appearance and place of habitat, much resembles the wood pewee, but it is smaller in size, and its mode of nesting is quite different.
Its scolding notes are the repetition of a simple “chip”; but these are seldom heard except when its nest or young are approached. Its song, if such it may be called, resembles the word “chebeck” repeated in a clear tone, may often be heard, especially for some weeks after its arrival.