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).