Page:Condor3(2).djvu/10

 38 THE CONDOR Vol. IV In the Summer #ome of the Buff-breasted I:lycatcher. R. D. LUSK, REDINGTON, ARIZ. aving promised to write something of the nesting habits of the Buff- breasted Flycatcher (]mpidonax [ulvifrons pymeus) it occurs to me that so little has been said of their life history that I will not confine myself to their nesting habits. Tho' the least among the genus ]mpidonax in size, they are by no means least in interest, and this is not merely owing to their rarity either. Judging by the very few to be en- countered in their known breeding localities, they are indeed rare, the largest number of them that I have seen in any one season being not more than three or four pairs. They appear in their summer haunts in the mount- ains, which are so far as I have found them, at altitudes of from 6,5oo feet up to the summits, at about the time of the coming of the warblers, late in April or in early May. On April 20, '99, I saw a single indi- vidual low down in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains and have little doubt he was bound for that range for the summer. They begin nesting, ac- cording to the earliest record in my own note book, June 3. From that date un- til about June 20 seems to be their nor- real time for beginning work. Disturbed pairs will begin nesting up to Aug. r. Their eggs present somewhat more variation in shape than those of others of this genus. Two of the few speci- mens that I have examined, taken from different sets, were sub-equal-ended, and the transverse diameter 'of nearly all is relatively great. The delicate, clear, creamy white color, unmarked, is .uniform. I have been unable to keep track of any of the young after leaving the nest, as they are thereafter, so far as separate identification is concerned, hopelessly lost in the big trees. They linger about their nesting local- ity until the warblers, vireos, Mexican Chickadees and others are feeding in flights of various mixtures wherever food is most plentiful. Just when they leave their summer homes I have been unable to stay with them long enough to ascertain; whither they go I have seen no data from which to determine. I first made their intimate acquaint- ance in the Chiricahua Mrs. in south- eastern Arizona in I896. Early in June I saw a pair of them just below my camp at Riggs Bros.' saw-mill, on the westernly slope of the range, at about 6,500 feet altitude. As there was no record of their nest and eggs being found it will readily be believed that I took an intense interest in that pair. I watched them in the early morning when birds are building, if building at all; watched them for hours after break- fast; watched them toward the evening when so many birds, like the proverb- ial lazy man, who "works the best when the sun is in the west", do a little hurried building. But those were all holidays to that precious pair. And beautiful days they were. The skies were Arizona's; the temperature ideal. The canyon stream rippled softly be- neath the large sycamores upon which they stationed themselves nmch of the time; theirlittle breasts shone buff in the bright sunlight; flies were plentiful and there was plenty of time for enjoy- ing then;selves, and they improved it. Every now and then the soft pit, pit of the two, as they kept good account of each other's whereabouts, wasvaried by the Chicky-whew of the male. (I bor- row this from my assistant Hiram, who always designated him the "Chicky- whew bird"). Not far up the mountain side, among the top branches of some large pines, a male Dendroica raciw frequently halted in his tour of inspec- tion of the bunches of needles, long enough to utter his rapid, vivacious song, much like that of the house wren tho' superior. Behind me, far up a pretty canyoncito, now and then the chirp of a Stephen's vireo ( I7ireo h. s/c-