Part 20

=Traill Flycatcher=: Empidonax traillii traillii (Audubon).--This flycatcher has only recently been found nesting within Kansas; the species is not included in analyses above. Twenty-three nesting records are here reported, for the species in Kansas City, Jackson and Platte counties, Missouri. Most of these records are from within a few hundred yards of the political boundary of Kansas. The Traill Flycatcher is a local summer resident in extreme northeastern Kansas (Doniphan County), in wet woodland and riparian groves. Temporal occurrence is not well-documented; first dates run from May 19 to 25; the last dates of annual occurrence, possibly not all for transients, run from August 14 to September 24.

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-three records of breeding are from May 21 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.4, 2-5; 22).

Nests are placed in forks, crotches, and occasionally near trunks, chiefly of willow, from 4.5 to 12 feet high (averaging six feet).

=Eastern Wood Pewee=: Contopus virens (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in the east, but is rare in the west. Preferred habitat is in edge of forest and woodland. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.

Breeding schedule.--Nineteen dates of egg-laying span the period June 1 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for completion of clutches is June 15, and more than half of all clutches are laid in the period June 11 to 20.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs.

Nests are placed on upper surfaces of horizontal limbs of oak, elm, and sycamore, about 22 feet high.

=Horned Lark=: Eremophila alpestris (Linnaeus).--Breeding populations are resident in open country with short or cropped vegetation. E. a. praticola (Henshaw) lives in the east, and E. a. enthymia (Oberholser) in the west.

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-one records of breeding span the period March 11 to June 10 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is March 25. The histogram (Fig. 6) is constructed on a clearly inadequate sample, and records of breeding both earlier and later are to be expected. The peak of first nesting activity is probably reasonably well-indicated by the available records.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-5; 16).

Nests are placed on the ground, usually amid short vegetation such as cropped prairie grassland or cultivated fields (notably soybeans and wheat), and occasionally on bare ground.

TABLE 14.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT SWALLOWS IN KANSAS

===============+===========================+============================= | Arrival | Departure SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------- | Range | Median | Range | Median ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------- Tree Swallow | Apr. 5-Apr. 30 | Apr. 24 | Sept. 30-Oct. 21 | Oct. 8 Bank Swallow | Apr. 9-May 19 | May 7 | Sept. 3-Sept. 20 | Sept. 10 Rough-winged | | | | Swallow | Mar. 29-May 30 | Apr. 22 | Sept. 23-Oct. 21 | Oct. 10 Cliff Swallow | Apr. 14-May 27 | May 11 | Sept. 3-Oct. 25 | Sept. 11 Barn Swallow | Mar. 31-Apr. 29 | Apr. 21 | Sept. 22-Oct. 25 | Oct. 7 Purple Martin | Mar. 5-Apr. 9 | Mar. 26 | Aug. 28-Sept. 23 | Sept. 3 ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+----------

=Tree Swallow=: Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieillot).--This is a summer resident in extreme northeastern Kansas; nesting birds have been found only along the Missouri River in Doniphan County. Habitat is in open woodland, and in Kansas is always associated with water. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 14.

Breeding schedule.--Eight records of breeding span the period May 21 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25. The small sample may not accurately reflect the peak of nesting activity.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs (5.5, 5-6; 4).

Nests are placed chiefly in abandoned woodpecker diggings in willows, four to ten feet high, over water.

=Bank Swallow=: Riparia riparia riparia (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common wherever cut-banks suitable for nesting activities allow relatively undisturbed behavior. The species is almost always found near water. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

Breeding schedule.--Sixty records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date for completion of clutches is June 5.

Nearly 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 21 to June 10. Under unusual circumstances time of breeding can be greatly delayed; such circumstances occurred in 1961 in many places along the Kansas River in eastern Kansas, where the soft, sandy-clay banks were repeatedly washed away in May and June by high water undercutting the cliffs. Bank Swallows attempted to work on burrows in late May, but stabilization of the banks occurred only by late June, and the peak of egg-laying for many colonies was around July 12. Records for 1961 are omitted from the sample used here (Fig. 6).

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 3-7; 60). Yearly clutch-size at one colony 3 miles east of Lawrence, Douglas County, is as follows:

1959: 5.2, 19 records 1960: 5.0, 12 records 1961: 3.7, 11 records 1962: 4.8, 18 records

The sample for 1961 is that taken in early July when breeding occurred after a delay of more than a month, as described above.

Nesting chambers are excavated in sandy-clay banks, piles of sand, piles of sawdust, or similar sites, at ends of tunnels one to more than three feet in depth from the vertical face of the substrate.

=Rough-winged Swallow=: Stelgidopteryx ruficollis serripennis (Audubon).--This summer resident is common in most places; it is not restricted to a single habitat, but needs some sort of earthen or other substrate with ready-made burrows for nesting. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14.

Breeding schedule.--The 14 records of breeding are in the period May 11 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. Seventy per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 21 to June 10.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.0, 4-6; 4).