MEXICAN CRESTED FLYCATCHER 127 



isfer) is the form found in southern Arizona and western Mexico, 

 while the Mexican crested flycatcher {M. t. nelsoni) occupies the 

 range from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas south through eastern 

 Mexico to Honduras and El Salvador. 



Casual records. — Although it seems probable that this bird may 

 occasionally nest in southwestern New Mexico, the only definite recoril 

 of occurrence is of a specimen taken on June 12, 1876, on the Gila 

 River about 20 miles south of old Fort West. 



Egg dates. — ^Arizona: 23 records, April 4 to July 17; 13 records. 

 May 24 to June 15, indicating the height of the season. 



Texas: 67 records, March 30 to June 17; 33 records, April 28 to 

 May 24. 



MYIARCHUS TYRANNULUS NELSONI (Ridgway) 

 MEXICAN CRESTED FLYCATCHER 



HABITS 



This Mexican flycatcher extends its range from eastern Mexico 

 into the United States only in the lower valley of the Rio Grande in 

 southern Texas. It is somewhat smaller than the xA.rizona crested 

 flycatcher but is like it in coloration. It is larger and paler in color 

 than our eastern crested flycatcher but much like it in general 

 appearance and behavior. We found it to be a fairly common bird 

 in Cameron County, frequenting the open country about the ranches, 

 but George B. Sennett (1879) says that "although found in the 

 chaparral and low, stunted growth of mesquite, yet its home is 

 emphatically in the heavier growths of timber, such as exist above 

 Hidalgo." 



Nesting. — The only nest that I saw near Brownsville was in a 

 cavity in a fence post about 5 feet above ground; our guide, Capt. 

 R. D. Camp, had taken a set of five eggs from this nest a short time 

 previously. Dr. Herbert Friedmann (1925) had a similar experience 

 with it; he says: "This bird is more a bird of the open than the 

 Crested Flycatcher of the northern states, and nests commonly in 

 fence posts bordering open fields. * * * Two nests, each with 

 five eggs, were found. Both were in stumps used as fence posts." 



Mr. Sennett (1879) says: "They nest in hollow stubs or abandoned 

 woodpeckers' holes, at a height varying from five to twenty feet. 

 The nests are lined with a matted felt consisting of soft strips of 

 bark, feathers, hair, and wool, with sometimes bits of snakeskins inter- 

 mingled. They begin to lay early in May, the number of eggs in 

 a clutch being five or six. When sitting, the birds are not very 

 timid, and, upon being flushed from their eggs, do not fly to any 

 great distance, and soon return to the nest upon the intruder's 



