FLYCATCHERS. 285 



largely chestnut ; primaries edged with the same. (Eest of 

 the wing with much white edging, forming two inconspicuous 

 bars. Outer tail-feathers edged with yellow.) 



h. The nest and eggs differ strikingly from those of all 

 our other birds. The nest, which in New England is finished 

 in the first or second week of June, may be found in woods 

 or orchards. It consists of a few materials, placed in the 

 hollow of a tree, among which cast-oif snake-skins are almost 

 invariably to be found. The eggs of each set are four or 

 five,* and average about 1.00 X .75 of an inch. They are 

 buff or creamy, spotted with lilac, and curiously streaked, or 

 '• scratched," with purplish and a winy brown. 



c. The Great Crested Flycatchers are summer residents in 

 all the States of New England, but aj^parently they are no- 

 where common. They reach Massachusetts about the middle 

 of May, and ordinarily remain there four months, but once, so 

 late as the first of November, I saw one not far from Boston, 

 who was fat and in excellent condition, in spite of the cold 

 season. The Great Crested Flycatchers for the most part fre- 

 quent woods, though sometimes seen in orchards or in small 

 groups of trees. They rarely enter the evergreens, but prefer 

 some collection of hard-wood trees, where there are clearings 

 and tracts of dead timber. In such a place they select their 

 summer home, over which they assume a despotic right, and 

 from which they drive any other birds whom they may con- 

 sider as intruders. They usually remain at a greater height 

 than the King-birds, frequently perching near the tops of tall 

 trees. Moreover, they often fly more rapidly and freely, 

 though often with a striking similarity. They catch insects 

 in the same manner, and feed upon them during spring and 

 the early summer ; but in autumn, unlike our other Flycatch- 

 ers, they seem to be almost wholly dependent upon various 

 berries, among which may be mentioned huckleberries. In 

 this season, they may occasionally be seen in family parties, 

 but, in spring, I have never observed more than two together. 



d. In regard to their notes, my experience obliges me to 

 differ from other writers. Wilson and Audubon both speak 



* Sets of six eg-gs are not at all uncommon. — W. B. 



