PARROTS, KINGFISHERS, AND FLYCATCHERS 



821 



in summer. It ranges through the West 

 Indies and along the shores of the Carib- 

 bean Sea. 



Great Crested Flycatclier 



{Myiarchus crinitus) 



Enter any woodland in the eastern 

 United States in summer, wall-: quietly, and 

 listen to the low sounds that come from 

 ground and tree-top. Soon you are certain 

 to hear the note of the great crested fly- 

 catcher, a clear, stirring call of curious tone 

 and cadence. 



On dead limbs pointing skyward, half 

 hidden by green foliage, soon there will ap- 

 pear a slender figure with reddish-brown 

 tail, yellow underparts, and gray breast, the 

 bird that you seek ( Color Plate VI ) . 



With crest raised the bird rests, darting 

 out at intervals for passing insects and on 

 occasion giving his ringing call. 



In a hollow in a near-by tree trunk this 

 interesting bird has placed its nest, lining 

 the cavity with soft materials to receive 

 from four to eight eggs. These are creamy 

 white, most strikingly marked with lines 

 and blotches of brown and lavender, many 

 of the markings running lengthwise and as 

 firmly scrawled as if laid on with a pen. In 

 these modern times the great crest some- 

 times nests in birdhouses. 



As a decorative feature, almost invari- 

 ably the shed skin of a snake is woven into 

 the nest material, or an entire skin, taken 

 from where the snake had left it on tree 

 trunk or ground, is wound about the upper 

 part of the nest. The practical reason for 

 this, whether to frighten intruders or to 

 decorate, must be left to the reader's de- 

 cision. Few nests of the great crest are 

 found without it. 



True to the habits of its family, the 

 great crest is a pugnacious enemy of all 

 birds that trespass or intrude on what it 

 considers its personal rights. Often in the 

 nesting season it may be seen or heard 

 hustling marauding jays through the tree- 

 tops with loudly snapping bill and sharp 

 outcries. And in protection of its nesting 

 cavities it has been known even to whip 

 completely the aggressive starling that ordi- 

 narily is the victor in similar encounters 

 with other hole-nesting birds. 



The northern crested flycatcher {Myi- 

 archus crinitus boreus) nests from JNIani- 

 toba and Nova Scotia to Texas and South 

 Carolina, and winters from ]Mexico to Co- 

 lombia. The southern crested flycatcher 



(Alyiarchtis crinitus crinitus), with larger 

 bill and more greenish back, is found from 

 southern South Carolina through the penin- 

 sula of Florida. 



Ash-throated Flycatcher 

 (Elyiarc/ius cincrasccns) 



In the arid Southwest this bird replaces 

 the great crested flycatcher of the Kast, 

 Heat and sun are so much a part of its life 

 that even in desert areas where there is 

 little shade it seems as much at home as 

 among the oaks and other trees of the 

 lower slopes of the mountains (Plate VI). 



Like its eastern cousin, this bird nests in 

 holes, occasionally occupying the domed 

 nests of the cactus wren. In the desert it 

 has been found using hollow iron pipes 

 standing in the sun where it seemed incred- 

 ible that the incubating bird could endure 

 the heat. 



Fragments of snake and lizard skin are 

 sometimes used for nest decoration, but 

 this is not so universal a custom as with 

 the eastern bird. The eggs, which number 

 from three to six, are similar to those of 

 the great crest, but ordinarily have the 

 markings more finely delineated. 



The typical ash - throated flycatcher 

 {Myiarchus cincrasccns cinerascens) is 

 found from Washington and Colorado to 

 northern Baja California and Tamaulipas. 



Olivaceous Flycatcher 



{Myiarchus tubercitlijcr olivascens) 

 In the brush-grown canyons of the moun- 

 tains of southern New IMexico and Arizona 

 this small cousin of the great crested fly- 

 catcher is fairly common (Color Plate 

 VI). 



Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher 



(Myiodynastcs lutciventris swart hi) 

 In the middle reaches of Pinery Canyon 

 in the Chiricahua ^Mountains, Arizona, the 

 white trunks and light-green leaves of a 

 line of sycamores trace in pleasantly con- 

 trasting color the winding course of the 

 stream in the canyon bottom against the 

 duller background of the scrub oaks that 

 clothe the hillsides. 



As I admired the gnarled and contorted 

 trunks of the trees that shaded our tents, 

 I heard an emphatic note that drew my 

 eyes to the yellow breast of a sulphur- 

 bellied flycatcher perched on a dead limb 

 where its colors were prominently displayed 

 in the sun (Color Plate VI). 



