OF NEW ENGLAND. 275 
either to reconnoitre, or to feed from some flock of gnats who 
are likewise hovering and swarming in the air. They bathe by 
plunging into the water, after which they fly to some twig, and 
dress their plumage. They perch rather erectly, and rarely 
alight upon the ground, unless to pick up something for their 
nests. 
(d). Their notes are shrill twitters, which often resemble 
those of the swallows. They are loud, sharp, and rather ve- 
hement. Among them may be heard the syllable king, which 
constantly recurs. Though the King-birds are plainly dressed, 
and though they have no song, they are entitled to both our 
respect and affection. 
II. MYIARCHUS 
(A) crinitus. Great Crested Flycatcher. 
(In New England, a rather rare summer-resident.) 
(a). About nine inches long. Crown-feathers erectile, often 
forming a loose crest, and dark-centred. Above, “dull green- 
ish olive,” inclining to dusky on the wings and tail. Beneath, 
pale yellow; but throat gray (or “‘pale ash”). Tail-feathers, 
largely chestnut; primaries edged with the same. (Rest of 
the wing with much white edging, forming two inconspicuous 
bars. Outer tail-feathers edged with yellow.) 
(b). The nest and eggs differ strikingly from those of all 
our other birds. The nest, which in New England is finished 
in the first or second week of June, may be found in woods or 
orchards. It consists of a few materials, placed in the hollow 
of a tree, among which cast-off snake-skins are almost inva- 
riably to be found. The eggs of each set are four or five, and 
average about 1:00X°‘75 of an inch. They are buff or creamy, 
spotted with lilac, and curiously streaked, or ‘ scratched,” 
with purplish and a winy brown. 
(c). The Great Crested Flycatchers are summer-residents in 
all the States of New England, but they are apparently no- 
where common. They reach Massachusetts about the middle 
of May, and ordinarily remain there four months, but once, so 
late as the first of November, I saw one not far from Boston, 
