THE DEEBT FLYCATCHEE. 253 



may be heard at all seasons of the year, but more particularly during tlie 

 breeding- season, when it is excessively garrulous. It is more frequently met 

 with in the neighbox'hood of fresh-water streams and lagoons, and I have often 

 observed them dart into the water after water insects and minnows that were 

 swimming near the surface, not unlike the Kingfisher; but they usually pursue 

 and capture on the wing the larger kinds of Coleoptera and Nenroptera, swallow- 

 ing their prey entire after first beating it a few times against their perch. They 

 are usually in pairs, but I have also seen as many as twenty about a stagnant 

 pool, watching its turbid water for insects and small fish, for which they seem to 

 have a great partiality. 



"The nest of this species is very large, and its construction differs from all 

 the Tyrannidce of which I have any knowledge excepting M. texeusis. It is 

 dome-shaped or covered, with* the entrance on the side, while the other species 

 build a saucer-shaped nest. The nest of the Bull-headed Flycatcher is usually 

 placed in the forks of the branches of very thorny trees, 25 or 30 feet from the 

 ground. It is composed of very coarse materials, of either straw or lichens, 

 sometimes of both, the lining, however, is of firmer and more elastic fibers. 

 Other birds sometimes make their nests in the same or nearest tree, such as 

 M. texensis, C. melaniderus, and I. pustulatus. The eggs of this Flycatcher are 

 usually five in number; they are of moderate size, rather lengthened, of a light 

 cream color, with a small reddish speck; the shell is delicate aiad easil}- broken." 



Messrs. Salvin and Godman make the following remarks about this species: 

 "In Gruatemala Pitangus derhiamis builds its nest in April and May; one found 

 at Duenas was a lai'ge, loose structure Avith a great deal of superfluous matter 

 about it, its entrance being on one side; it was composed entirely of small 

 twigs and placed at the end of a branch about 20 feet from the ground; 

 another taken at San Greronimo had two openings, but one seems to be the rule. 

 A favorite haunt is the banana groves, where the nest may be found wedged in 

 among the clusters of fruit. The eggs are slightly pear-shaped, of a pale 

 creamy-white color, spotted and blotched with brick red. They vary consider- 

 ably in size and color, especially as to the magnitude and density of the spots. 



"We never noticed P. derbianus feeding on fish and water insects, as 

 described by Grayson, but Mr. Hudson ascribes similar habits to P. sidphurahis 

 in the Argentine Republic." ''^ 



There are tlu-ee sets of eggs in the Ralph collection, taken in Cameron 

 County, Texas, on May 9, May 27, and June 23, 1893, respectively. Each of 

 these contained four fresh eggs when found; the last set was probably a second 

 laying, the first having been destroyed. Two of these nests were located in a 

 thicket of huisache trees (^Acacia farnesiand), about 10 feet from the ground; 

 the other in a large bunch of Spanish moss, pending from tbe limb of a large 

 tree, about 14 feet up. The last-named is now in the collection here. The nest 

 proper is an unusually bulky structure, composed principally of gray Spanish 

 moss, dry weed stems, pieces of vines, and swamp grasses, and lined with finer 



'Biologia Centrali Americani, Aves, Vol. II, 1889, p. 45. 



