SUMMER BIRDS OF SHAW's GARDEN. 49 



is a mistake. Out of 281 stomachs only fourteen contained 

 bees, and of the fifty bees found therein forty were drones; 

 only four working bees were positively identified, the rest 

 being too much broken up to tell the sex. But fourteen rob- 

 berflies, enemies of the bee, were also found in these stomachs, 

 more than enough to make up for the few working bees. 



CRESTED FLYCATCHER. Myiarchus crinitus. 



While the Kingbird chooses the open land where trees are 

 not plentiful, this member of the family prefers the forest and 

 more or less open woods. In the Garden a pair is making its 

 home in the arboretum, where for two months, May and June, 

 its loud, harsh voice greets the visitor at all times of the day. 

 About the size of a Robin, the originator of the queer notes is 

 easily discovered, and even if the bird should leave its perch 

 to elude a closer scrutinizing of its green coat and yellow 

 waist below a pearl-gray throat, a glance at its rusty tail suf- 

 fices for identification. During the mating period and when 

 in search of a serviceable cavity for a nest, the interesting pair 

 is easily watched, but after the nesting site has once been 

 selected and nidification begun, it becomes more and more 

 secretive and takes pains not to betray the whereabout of its 

 offspring. Often mentioned in books, and deservedly so, is 

 a peculiarity which this species shares with others of its genus 

 in subtropical and tropical America, namely the use of snake 

 skin in the make-up of its nest. Covering the eggs with it 

 during temporary absence, the intention is undoubtedly to 

 hide the eggs and scare intruders by the make-believe that 

 the hole is the home of a snake. 



WOOD PEWEE. Contopus virens. 



The Pewee is originally a true woodland bird, but unlike 

 other denizens of the forest which disappear entirely with the 

 forest, it has long ago begun to accept the condition that civi- 

 lization imposes and is now putting up with substitutes such 

 as parks, cemeteries, and even large orchards. 



Fortunately, one pair is content with an abode in the more 

 densely wooded part of the Garden, the arboretum. For most 



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