276 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
who was fat and in excellent condition, in spite of the cold 
season. The Great Crested Flycatchers for the most part fre-- 
quent woods, though sometimes seen in orchards or in small 
groups of trees. They rarely enter the evergreens, but prefer 
some collection of hard-wood trees, where there are clearings 
and tracts of dead timber. In such a place they select their 
summer-home, over which they assume a despotic right, and 
from which they drive any other birds whom they may con- 
sider as intruders. They usually remain at a greater height 
than the King-birds, frequently perching near the tops of tall 
trees. Moreover, they often fly more rapidly and freely than 
those birds, though often with a striking similarity. They 
catch insects in the same manner, and feed upon them during 
spring and the early summer ; but, in autumn, unlike our other 
flycatchers, they seem to be almost wholly dependent upon 
various berries, among which may be mentioned huckleberries. 
In the latter season, they may occasionally be seen in family 
parties, but, in spring, I have never observed more than two 
together. : 
(d). In regard to their notes, my experience obliges me to 
differ from other writers. Wilson and Audubon both speak of 
their note as a loud, harsh, disagreeable squeak, and subse- 
quent writers have repeated this statement. I have watched 
the Great Crested Flycatchers many times at all seasons, ex- 
cept in winter, for the express purpose of hearing this cry, but 
I have never heard them utter any sound to which the above 
description is applicable. On the contrary, I have at all times 
heard them utter a single loud, brusque note (not unlike the 
ordinary call of the Quail), which it is difficult to imitate well, 
though one may do so by whistling and suddenly drawing in 
the breath. These flycatchers have also a few low notes, which 
are likewise whistled. I do not wish to deny the accuracy of 
my predecessors, but merely to state that there is certainly 
one sound familiar to me, which seems to have escaped their 
attention, and that what they describe is very probably a 
querulous cry. 
