Hammond Flycatcher in West Central Kansas
HAMMOND FLYCATCHER IN WEST-CENTRAL KANSAS
CHARLES A. ELY
Department of Zoology
Fort Hays Kansas State College
Hays, Kansas 67602
Two recent specimens indicate that the Hammond Flycatcher (Empidonax hummondii) is one of the many western species that occurs at least occasionally eastward to west-central Kansas. These two specimens are the first confirmed Kansas specimens. The first bird (FHKSC 297) was killed by a cat, and found in Hays, Ellis County, on 15 September 1961. It was dehydrated and had probably been dead for several days. It had some fat; the sex could not be determined. A. second snecimen (FHKSC 1139) was mist-netted along Big -Creek, near Hays, on 4 October 1966. This specimen was an adult male with very small testes and was very fat. It was netted in a small group of low boxelders on a creek bank surrounded by tall weedy growth and some 26 yards from a few large cottonwoods and elms. This was the only Empidonax netted in this area during the September-October season. Identification of the 1961 bird was confirmed by Allan R. Phillips and of the 1966 specimen by Alexander Wetmore. Accepted for publication 12 January 1967.
