THE 



WILSON BULLETI 



NO. 93. 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 



VOL. XXVII DECEMBER, 1915 NO. 4 



OLD SERIES VOL. XXVII. NEW SERIES VOL. XXII. 



THE HOME OF THE GREAT CREST. 



P,Y IRA N. GABRIELSON. 



The Great Crested Flycatcher {Myiarchiis crinitus) has 

 been practically an unknown bird to me. I saw it during the 

 migrations and for two years knew that a pair was nesting 

 in the tops of a grove of giant cottonwoods. There was, 

 however, little opportunity to learn anything regarding their 

 home life as the dense foliage and undergrowth effectually 

 screened them from view. Imagine then my feelings when 

 a small boy, who lived in the outskirts of the town, stopped 

 me with the following remark (I give his statement ver- 

 batim) : " There's a bird got a nest in a hole in an old dead 

 tree down in our pasture and its got a brown back and yel- 

 low belly and an awful noise." I was interested at once and 

 accompanied my small informant to the tree. As we ap- 

 proached a Great Crest left the hole in the trunk and flew 

 to a neighboring tree. 



The nest tree was the remains of an old basswood, a stump 

 perhaps ten feet in height, with a circle of dead branches 

 around the top. The tree was situated in a small glade, and 

 the parents commanded a fine view in all directions. The 

 nest was in a cavity about eight inches deep, and about six 

 feet from the ground. It was lined with feathers, grass, and 

 string, but I missed the traditional snake skin. However,, 



