Crested Flycatcher. 223 



it seizes flying insects with loud, voracious snaps of its 

 bill. It also takes many insects from the leaves while 

 flying among the foliage, quickly turning in air with 

 flashing wings to preserve its balance ere alighting, usu- 

 ally on a different perch from the starting point. In pro- 

 curing a meal it displays greater activity than the king- 

 bird, frequently flitting out and snapping insects from the 

 leaves after the fixshion of the redstart and other warblers. 

 When it desires to take an insect from a leaf, even if its 

 prey bo within reach, it prefers to hover, and while thus 

 on the wing snap it from its place. In the fall the crested 

 flycatcher is said to feed on the grapes and berries to be 

 found abundantly in the woods. 



Nidification is begun by this flycatcher about the first 

 of June. Though I have frequently looked earlier for 

 nests, I never found them before June. The regular sites 

 are natural hollows in stumps and trees, and the cavities 

 made by woodpeckers, generally between five and twenty 

 feet from the ground, but often in the denuded tops 

 of high trees. Once I found a nest in the top of a dead 

 tree sixty-five feet from the ground. Its nesting in orchards 

 has been noticed, and it frequently takes possession of the 

 boxes arranged for the bluebirds or martins, or appropjri- 

 ate nooks about dwellings. It uses dried leaves and grass, 

 strips of bark, weed fibers, feathers, and bunches of rabbit 

 and cow hair for building materials, the last three serving 

 as lining. Among the component parts of the nest are 

 nearly always found pieces of cast-off snake skin. One 

 summer day, a younger companion who was exploring an 

 orchard with me in search of cological treasures, after 

 drawing himself up to look into a cavity, slipped back 

 quickly, and taking hold of a small stick, began to prod 

 vigorously into the recess. Observing his excited actions, 

 I asked an explanation. He said, ''Why, there's a snake 

 in there." After further examination, however, he found 

 only a large piece of sloughed skin, beyond which were 

 four eggs of the crested flycatcher. 



The cavity selected is usually well filled with the chosen 

 materials, which are brought in large mouthfuls by both 

 birds with noisy procedure. The average complement 

 consists of four eggs, though five and even six eggs are 



