BIRDS OF NELSON COUNTY. 33 



Several years ago, in May, I saw one of these birds occu- 

 pying an exposed perch on a pear tree in bloom, about 

 which many bees were darting. Several times I observed 

 that the bird caught the insects without leaving his perch, 

 by quickly turning his head and "grabbing" them. My 

 attention being thoroughly aroused, I noticed that many 

 of them seemed to fly directly towards him ; the majority 

 appearing to "shy off" at a short distance and change 

 their course, but very few that came within reach escaped 

 him. The question naturally suggests itself: did the 

 thrifty Hymenopterce mistake the fully displayed crimson 

 crown (I could see that the crest was erected) for a flower ? 

 Once since I have observed the same phenomenon, but not 

 as well as upon this occasion. Mr. C. C. Nutting, who 

 has spent considerable time studying the birds of Costa 

 Rica and Niagara in their native haunts, states that he 

 has seen Muscivora mexicana perched upon a twig, and 

 waving its curious and brilliant fan-shaped crest after the 

 manner of a flower swayed by a gentle breeze, and thus 

 attracting insects within reach. In fact the majority of 

 the fly-catchers, a family that numerically reaches its great- 

 est development in the Neotropical Region, all have some 

 lively colored coronal decoration, which, perhaps, has 

 been evolved for the special j^urpose above suggested. I 

 understand that this subject has been discussed by Mr. 

 H. K. Coale in a recent paper read before the Ridgway 

 Ornithological Club, of Chicago, but I have not seen it, 

 and am unaware whether or not he has touched upon this 

 particular phase of the matter. 



Genus Myiarchus. 

 109. ^JlfjiarcAuj crifli^u^ (Linn.) Great-crested Fly-catcher. 

 An abundant summer resident ; more numerous than the 



