ure in long-diameter from .80 to .95, and in short-diameter from .60 to .72. A common size is about .88 x 

 ,65. Dr. Brewer, in " North American Birds," mentions an egg which was 1.10 x .70, and another .90 

 x .75, and he gives the average size, 1.00 x .75. Dr. Coues, on the other hand, gives the usual size 

 about .85 x .62, page 239, "Birds of the North-west." The ground-color of the shell is buff or yellow- 

 ish clay-color. The markings consist of lines, blotches, spots, and speckles of burnt umber, or walnut- 

 color; the deep shell-marks appearing purplish or bluish. The eggs are very beautifully and curiously 

 marked, being entirely different from any other eggs of the State. The lines run lengthwise principally, 

 beginning sometimes with a blotch at the base and narrowing out to the width of a pen scratch at the 

 point Between, and often crossing these lines, are others which are shorter and more uniform in diam- 

 eter; and, scattered pretty evenly over the shell, at various angles with these, are other lines which are 

 quite short, and as sharp and delicate as can be made by an etcher's pen. While the marks are largely 

 lines, still, on every ogg } and on some more than others, are to be found, at irregular intervals, blotches, 

 spots, and speckles. The ground-color is generally plainly visible between marks, but, occasionally, it is 

 obscured at the base by confluent, deep shell-marks and surface marks. It is difficult to describe the 

 usual pattern of these eggs accurately, and it is impossible to give a good idea of the curious designs 

 sometimes seen. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 



The nest of the Great Carolina Wren is occasionally so located and constructed as to resemble some- 

 what that of M. crinitiis, and is the only other nest in the State which often contains snake-skin. With 

 this exception, the nest under consideration may be known by the cast-off snake-skin. The eggs are so 

 different from any others that they can always be recognized at a glance by any one who has once seen 

 them, or who has read a description of them. 



REMARKS : 



Fig. 1, Plate LIV, represents three eggs of the Great Crested Flycatcher, of the usual sizes, shapes, 

 and markings. They were selected from five sets. 



The Great Crested Flycatchers are very quarrelsome and tyrannical among themselves, or at least they 

 appear to be, as they are continually scolding and complaining to each other and engaging in fights. 

 This, however, may all be in fun, and their notes, which are so harsh and grating to the human ear, 

 that when once heard are never forgotten, may convey to each other very pleasant and peaceful ideas. 



Their food consists of insects, which they catch on the wing, in true Flycatcher style, and also of 

 small fruits and berries. After the young are out of the nest they remain with their parents up to the 

 time of their departure for the South. In 1879, I found a nest in a hollow limb of an apple-tree which 

 was about the dirtiest and foulest bird-home imaginable. The site had evidently been occupied by the 

 Flycatchers for several seasons, and, previously, by Bats and Screech Owls. There was a hat full of half- 

 decayed vegetable material, upon which the young were lying, and in this rubbish were worms, ants, bed- 

 bugs, lice, and a partially decomposed young Flycatcher that sent forth a sickening odor. It was, all 

 things considered, a most undesirable place to live, yet the parents seemed to take much pride in their 

 residence, and made a great noise and bluster during the limited time I was examining it. As a rule, 

 the nest is not very clean and tidy, and it may be that the snake-skin used in the nest has an odor 

 pleasant to the birds. 



190 



