{14 Tue Birps Asout Us. 
boy in the country knows the Kingbird. No one 
has probably missed the sight of a little dark-gray 
bird with a bit of a topknot and white edging to his 
tail launch out and upward, and when above some 
passing crow dip down and nip, or make believe to 
nip it, about the head. 
In May or June, when the kingbirds have their 
nests, there are so many other and more attractive 
birds that we do not notice them so much, but they 
play a prominent part in August and September, 
when young and old gather in loose companies, often 
associated with birds of other kinds, and long before 
cold weather has set in proceed on their southward 
journey. 
Another flycatcher, and one that we are sure to 
hear before we see, is the Great-crested. It is very 
plainly dressed, and of all our birds has the most 
disagreeable voice, a veritable grating squawk that 
must be uttered of necessity rather than choice, for 
the bird can surely only be pained when it hears 
itself speak. They reach the Middle States in April 
and make as long a stay as the kingbird. As fly- 
catchers they are much the same, and are just as 
brave so far as defending their nests is concerned, 
but do not seem to be anxious to forever have a 
quarrel on hand. 
Unlike the kingbird, which builds an open nest, 
the great-crested wants a commodious hollow in a 
tree, and will not hesitate to question the rights of 
the little red owl, although the latter has had un- 
disturbed possession all the previous winter. As 
Wilson states,— 
