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 II2 BULLETIN OF THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. Nstin of the $ulphur-bllicd I:lycatcher. BY RICHARD D. LUSK, ROSEMONT, A. T. LONG the ever-flowing canon streams in some of the higher ranges of southern Arizona, at an altitude where grow large sycamores in abundance (5000 to 6500 feet) may be found a curious member of the family Tyrannide, the Sulphur-bellied Fly- cateher. But he is not to be found n these, his breeding haunts, until spring has ripened into summer. The warb- lers and vireos and the other flycatch- ers, the beautiful tanagers and the wary Seott's Oriole with his melodious whistle, reminding one of the first strain of "Yankee Doodle," have all been back for weeks in their favorite resorts of hillside or mountain top or canon depth, ere the first pair of these birds puts in an appearance or makes their presence known by an unmusical discordant screech. They seein to come in pairs, during the last days of May or early in June. Having killed several females in June whose ovaries showed no indication of the presence of the breeding season, I surmised that possibly they did not breed here, and, after watching them assiduously two or three seasons thro' June and even into July, I had nearly given up the quest when a companion shot one about Aug.  containing a fully formed egg. With new light on the subject, I watched thereafter later in the season and on Aug. 5, '94, was rewarded by finding a set of three eggs, the first taken in the United States I believe, and which I afterward sent to the late Major Bendire. The nest referred to, as well as all subsequent ones that I have found, was in a natural cavity of a sycamore, caused by the rotting out, within the trunk, of the base of a broken off limb, of which cavities there are many in the sycamores. There is little or no cavity below the level of the opening, and those selected are quite roomy, so that the bird which is some- what larger than the kingbird, has plenty of room without mussing her plumage,-and so large is the entrance that usually the largest hand would find ample room for entrance, The nests which are marx, els of uni- formity and simplicity as to materials, are made of the naturally-curved, dried leaf stems of the walnut, without a shred of lining of any kind. The stems, which are stiff and quite uniformly curved, are so arranged that their nat- ural curves form the round nest. Sometimes, however, in ease of a rough- bottomed cavity, a sub-material of small sticks, bark etc., is made use of. They are generally quite indifferently made, like most nests within cavities, but last season I found one so compactly put to- gether that I was able to remove and handle it without injury. Though quite thick, one could distinctly see the large dark eggs through the bottom of the wire-like structure after its removal from the cavity. No other number than three of either eggs or young was ever found, I believe; no other material in the nest structure than the leaf stems mentioned; and no other location than that of a natural cavity in a sycamore by running water. This is one of the few species nesting here, who wait their nesting for the second spring, the rainy season, which opens about July ist. The Buff-breast- ed Flycatcher and the Massena Par- tridge are the most conspicuous other examples. It seems curious that, ar- riving at their breeding haunts at a time when nearly all of their neighbors are building or setting or rearing broods, and after the weather is as uni- formly mild and propitious as that of Italy itself, they invariably wait several weeks before beginning to build, tho' I have learned that they commonly select a cavity within a few days after their arrival, and if not dis- turbed make it their rendezvous until later in the season when they see fit to build in it. I have never known a nest to be begun until the clouds were gath- ering for the summer rains, and only one before the rains had actually well begun, the latest nest being taken Aug. xS, but these eggs were well incubated. Two pairs I have seen drowned out of their cavities by the driving rains fill- ing them to over-flowing; in fact my