276 BIRD LIFE IN AN OLD APPLE-TREE 



in the fall. They pass the nights and the 

 stormy days in them. So far as I have ob- 

 served they do not use them as nesting-places 

 the following season. 



Last night when I rapped on the trunk of the 

 old apple-tree near sundown, downy put out 

 her head with a surprised and inquiring look, 

 and then withdrew it again as I passed on. 



I have spoken of the broods of the great 

 crested flycatchers that have been reared in the 

 old apple-tree. This is by no means a common 

 bird, and as it destroys many noxious insects I 

 look upon it with a friendly eye, though it is 

 the most uncouth and unmusical of the flycatch- 

 ers. 



Indeed, among the other birds of the garden 

 and orchard it seems quite like a barbarian. 



It has a harsh, froglike scream, form and 

 manners to suit, and is clad in a suit of butter- 

 nut brown. It seeks a cast-ofi* snakeskin to 

 weave into its nest, and not finding one, will 

 take an onion skin, a piece of oiled paper, or 

 large fish scales. 



It builds in a cavity in a tree, rears one 

 brood, and is off' early in the season. I never 

 see or hear it after August 1st. 



A pair have built in a large, hollow limb in 

 my old apple-tree for many years. Whether it 

 is the same pair or not I do not know. Proba- 

 bly it is, or else some of their descendants. 



I looked into the cavity one day while the 

 mother bird was upon the nest, but before she 

 had laid any eggs. A sudden explosive sound 



