flight, is snapped up by a discriminating Kingbird, then a calamity indeed has befallen the 
swarm which can only be remedied by manufacturing another queen, an operation in- 
volving both time and trouble. Fortunately the Kingbird atones for its lapses into bee-diet 
by devouring great quantities of harmful insects. 
Rete, IL —GREADT “ERESTED FLYCATCHER: 
Mytarchus crinitus. 
Above olive-green, darkest on the head, which is crested; throat 
and breast ash ; belly yellow ; wings and tail reddish-brown, the former 
with a pale, transverse bar, and the latter long and nearly even; bill 
and feet dark. Length, 9 inches. 
Migratory. Arrives about May 10, leaves about September 25. Builds its nest in 
trees and is said to use the cast off skins of snakes in its construction. This constant use 
of snake-skins is commonly supposed to be in accordance with a desire to frighten off 
marauders by the display of what they shall haply take to be the live presence of their 
dreaded common enemy. A recent writer states that in all the nests of the Great 
Crested Flycatcher found by him, only once was the snake-skin absent, and, in this 
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