} 
CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 
452. Myiarchus crinitus. 9 inches. 
These large flycatchers are very noisy in the 
mating season, but theirnotes are rather more 
musical than those of the Kingbirds. They ap- 
pear to be of a quarrelsome disposition, for rarely will 
more than one pair be found in a single piece of woods. 
They also frequently chase smaller birds, but never 
attack larger ones, as do the Kingbirds. They have a 
queer habit of placing a piece of snakeskin in the hole 
in which their nest is located, for what purpose, unless 
to scare away intruders, is not known, but it seems to 
be a universal practice. 
Notes.—A clear whistle, “wit-whit,” “wit-whit,” re- 
peated several times. This is the most common call; 
they have many others less musical. 
Nest.—Of straw, etc., in holes of dead limbs. Eggs 
four to six in number; buffy white, streaked ard 
blotched with brown. 
Range.—LEastern N. A. from the Plains to the At- 
lantic, breeding north to southern Canada. 
