Species II. MUSCICAPA CRINITA. 



GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 



[Plate XIII. Fig. 2.] 



Linn. Syst. 325. — Lath, ii., 357. — Arct. Zonl. p. 386, No. 267. — Le mnuche rolle de 

 Virginie d hxippe verte, Buff, ir., 565. PI. Enl. 569. 



By glancing at the physiognomy of this bird and the rest of the figures 

 on the same plate, it will readily be observed, that they all belong to 

 one particular family of the same genus. They possess strong traits of 

 their particular cast, and are all remarkably de.xterous at their profes- 

 sion of fly-catching. The one now before us is less generally known 

 than the preceding, being chiefly confined to the woods. There his 

 harsh squeak, for he has no song, is occasionally heard above most 

 others. He also visits the orchard ; is equally fond of bees ; but wants 

 the courage and magnanimity of the King-bird. He arrives in Penn- 

 sylvania early in May, and builds his nest in a hollow tree deserted by 

 the Blue-bird or Woodpecker. The materials of which this is formed 

 are scanty, and rather novel. One of these nests, now before me, is 

 formed of a little loose hay, feathers of the Guinea fowl, hog's bristles, 

 pieces of cast snake skins, and dog's hair. Snake skins with this bird 

 appeal to be an indispensable article, for I have never yet found one 

 of his nests without this material forming a part of it. Whether he sur- 

 rounds his nest with this by way of terrorem, to prevent other birds or 

 animals from entering ; or whether it be that he finds its silky softness 

 suitable for his young, is uncertain ; the fact however is notorious. The 

 female lays four eggs of a dull cream color thickly scratched with pur- 

 ple lines of various tints as if done with a pen. See fig. 2. 



This species is eight inches and a half long, and thirteen inches in 

 extent; the upper parts are of a dull greenish olive; the feathers on 

 the head are pointed, centered with dark brown, ragged at the sides, 

 and form a kind of blowzy crest ; the throat and upper parts of the 

 breast delicate ash ; rest of the lower parts a sulphur yellow ; the wing 

 coverts are pale drab, crossed with two bars of dull white ; the prima- 

 ries are of a bright ferruginous or sorrel color ; the tail is slightly 

 forked, its interior vanes of the same bright ferruginous as the prima- 

 i-ies ; the bill is blackish, very much like that of the King-bird, fur- 

 nished also with bristles ; the eye is hazel ; legs and feet bluish black. 

 The female can scarcely be distinguished, by its colors, from the male. 



This bird akso feeds on berries towards the end of summer, particu- 

 larly on huckleberries, which, during the time they last, seem to form 

 the chief sustenance of the young birds. I have observed this species 

 here as late as the tenth of September ; rarely later. They do not, to 



my knowledge, winter in any of the Southern States. 



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