Concord, Mass.
1910.
June 18
(No 2)
[June 18, 1910]

Behavior of nesting Crested Flycatchers

  Whenever I pass very near the apple tree in which the
Crested Flycatchers are nesting one of the birds is sure to
fly out of the hollow branch which I put up two years
ago & in which I found a nest at the close of last
summer after the Flycatchers had gone. To day I approached
the tree very carefully walking over newly ploughed land
where my footsteps made no sound. Yet the Flycatcher
must have heard me coming for before I got under the
branch (which hangs about 15 feet above the earth) she
appeared at the mouth of the hole. For a few seconds
she remained there motionless and then flew to another
tree in perfect silence. This behavior is quite characteristic
of her and her mate. They flit about uneasily when my
men are working under or near the tree which shelters the
nest but I never hear them utter any sound there although
they are still noisy enough at times (less often than week or 
two ago, however) in other parts of the orchard or in neighboring woods.