FLYCATCHERS. 



245 



Fio. 75.— Crested Flycatcher. (Natural size.) 



Kest^ of grasses, twigs, and rootlets, with generally a piece of a cast snake 

 skin, in a hole in a tree, generally less than twenty feet up. £ggs, three to 

 six, creamy white, streaked longitudinally with chocolate, '90 x 'GS. 



During the spring migration each day brings its own surprise and 

 pleasure. The bare, silent woods where I walked alone before are 

 now astir with flitting wings and ringing with glad music. Each 

 morning I hurry out, full 

 of eager anticipation, to be 

 thrilled by the greeting of 

 some old friend come home 

 again. 



There are red-letter days, 

 however, even in this calen- 

 dar. Hark I from the woods 

 a loud whistle pierces far 

 through the clearing. The 

 Great-crest has come ! 



I break away from the 

 confusing chorus of small voices and hurry otf to the woods for the 

 first sight of the distinguished bird. Full of life and vigor, he flies 

 about in the green tree tops, chattering to himself or calling loudly 

 as he goes. 



Not many days pass, however, before he is so taken up with do- 

 mestic matters that his voice is rarely heard outside the woods. Is he 

 engaged in his famous pursuit — hunting snake skins to line his nest? 

 Absorbed in my daily round of nest calls, I cherish the memory of 

 each passing glimpse of him. Now I see him launch from a bass- 

 wood top, with wings and tail spread, to sail down through the air, 

 his tail glowing red against the light. Again, when looking for a rare 

 Warbler, his calls arrest me. In the dead top of the highest tree in 

 sight I find him with his mate. With crests raised, the handsome 

 birds chase each other about the bare branches. Tired of that, they 

 explore the old Woodpecker's holes in the trunk, and one of them 

 walks out of sight down a hollow limb. A Blackbird lights in the 

 tree, and the Great-crest above becomes so agitated that I am con- 

 vinced his mate has gone to her nest, when lo ! both Flycatchers are 

 off and away to another of the great trees that overtop the forest. 



Florence A. Merriam. 



456. Sayornis phcebe {Latl.). PuffiBE. (See Fig. 42.) Jd— Up- 

 per parts grayish brown with an olive-green cast ; crown distinctly darker, 

 fuscous ; wings and tail fuscous, wing-bars not conspicuous ; outer vane of 

 outer tail-feather white or yellowish white, except at the tip; under parts 

 white, more or less washed with yellowish, and tinged with brownish gray 



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