Vermilion Flycatcher on the Pacific Slope of Southern California
Vermilion Flycatcher on the Pacific Slope of Southern California
The occurrence of the Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalua rubinus mexicanus) in the vicinity of El Monte, Los Angeles County, California, where willow association predominates, appears to be more frequent than is supposed. On January 27, 1923, I collected an adult male which was darting from the top of a half-dead willow and feeding on insects over water.
Again, on October 11, 1924, an immature male was collected. This individual was the only one which was readily approached, the others, being quite “nervous”, and would fly for some distance, constantly out of gun range. An adult male was observed on October 20, 1927, but it remained at too great a distance from the observer and was not procured. In the first week of December of the same year, a female was seen but was unfortunately lost in thick undergrowth after having been shot. The fifth bird of this species noted, an adult male, was shot on December 19, 1929, after a hot chase among the willows and surrounding fields.
It is my belief that the Vermilion Flycatcher is a rare but annual fall and winter visitant in this locality, as all five birds were observed within a radius of about a quarter of a mile. Two of the specimens obtained are now in my collection and the third was given to the late O. W. Howard.
J. Stuart Rowley
Athanzbra, California, January 3, 1930
