flight, is snapped up by a discriminating Kingbird, then a calamity indeed has befallen the 

 swarm which can only be remedied by manufacturing another queen, an operation in- 

 volving both time and trouble. Fortunately the Kingbird atones for its lapses into bee-diet 

 by devouring great quantities of harmful insects. 



PLATE XIII. GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 



Myiarchus crinitus. 



Above olive-green, darkest on the head, which is crested ; throat 

 and breast ash ; belly yellow ; wings and tail reddish-brown, the former 

 with a pale, transverse bar, and the latter long and nearly even ; bill 

 and feet dark. Length, 9 inches. 



Migratory. Arrives about May 10, leaves about September 25. Builds its nest in 

 trees and is said to use the cast off skins of snakes in its construction. This constant use 

 of snake-skins is commonly supposed to be in accordance with a desire to frighten off 

 marauders by the display of what they shall haply take to be the live presence of their 

 dreaded common enemy. A recent writer states that in all the nests of the Great 

 Crested Flycatcher found by him, only once was the snake-skin absent, and, in this 



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