AMERICAN FLYCATCHERS. 



5 2 9 



garrulous bird, and has a great range of sounds, from grating screams to long clear, 

 almost mellow, call-notes. It has one pretty habit which brings out strongly the 

 pleasant feature in its character. The male and female are greatly attached ; they 

 do not go afield to hunt in company like the short-winged tyrant, but separate to 

 meet again at intervals during the day. One of a couple (say the female) returns 

 to the trees where they are accustomed to meet, and after a time, becoming im- 

 patient or anxious at the delay of her consort, utters a very long clear call-note. 

 He is perhaps a quarter of a mile away, watching for a frog beside a pool, or 

 beating harrier-like over a thistle-bed, but he hears the note and presently responds 

 with one of equal power. Then perhaps for half an hour at intervals of half a 

 minute the birds answer each other, though the powerful call of the one must 



THE HRE-EVE (J 



interfere with his hunting. At length he returns : then the two birds perch close 

 together, with their yellow bosoms almost touching, crests elevated, and, beating 

 the branch with their wings, scream their loudest notes in concert, a confused 

 jubilant noise that rings through the whole plantation." In its nidification, the 

 bienteveo departs widely from the traditional habits of its congeners ; unlike the 

 majority of tyrants, which build small and shallow nests, this species constructs a 

 very elaborate domed nest, which sometimes takes weeks to elaborate. It is 

 placed in a tree without any attempt at concealment, and is composed of a variety 

 of soft materials, especially wool. The eggs are cream-coloured, spotted with 

 chocolate and purple, chiefly at the larger end. The bienteveo preys chiefly upon 

 large insects such as beetles, which it invariably beats against the perch before 

 swallowing them : but sometimes it carries off the callow young of other birds 

 from their nests. It is also fond of fishing in shallow pools, preying upon tadpoles 

 and small fishes: while occasionally it enters the slaughter-house in search of 

 vol. m. — 34 



