202 
THE PIPIRY PLYCATCHER. 
Flycatcher, that, were it not for its greater size, and' the difference of its 
notes, it might be mistaken for that bird, as I think it has been on former 
occasions by travellers less intent than I on distinguishing species. At 
the season when I visited the Floridas, there was not a Key ever so small 
without at least a pair of them. 
Their flight is performed by a constant flatter of the' wings, unless when 
the bird is in chase, or has been rendered shy, when it exhibits a power and 
speed equal to those of any other species of the genus. During the love 
season, the male and female are seen rising from a dry twig together, either 
perpendicularly, or in a spiral manner, crossing each other as they ascend, 
twittering loudly, and conducting themselves in a manner much resembling 
that of the Tyrant Flycatcher. When in pursuit of insects, they dart at 
them with great velocity. Should any large bird pass near their stand, they 
immediately pursue it, sometimes to a considerable distance. I have seen- 
them, after teasing a Heron or Fish Crow, follow them nearly half a mile, 
and return exulting to the tree on which they had previously been perched. 
Yet I frequently observed that the approach of a White-headed Pigeon or 
Zenaida Dove, never ruffled their temper. To the G-rakles they were par- 
ticularly hostile, and on all occasions drove them away from their stand, 
or the vicinity of their nest, with unremitting perseverance. The reason in 
this case, and in that of the Fish Crow, was obvious, for these birds sucked 
their eggs or destroyed their young whenever an opportunity occurred. 
This was also the case with the Mangrove Cuckoo. 
This species is careless of the approach of man, probably because it is 
seldom disturbed by him. I have been so near some of them as to see dis- 
tinctly the colour of their eyes. No ’sooner, however, had it begun to build 
its nest, than it flew about me or my companions, as if much exasperated at 
our being near, frequently snapping its beak with force, and in various ways 
loudly intimating its disapprobation of our conduct. Then, as we retired 
from the neighbourhood of its nest, it flew upwards, chattering notes of joy. 
They fix their nest somewhat in the manner of the King-bird, that is, on 
horizontal branches, or in the large fork of a mangrove, or bush of any other 
species, without paying much attention to its position, with respect to the 
water, but with very singular care to place it on the western side of the 
tree, or of the islet. I found it sometimes not more than two feet above 
high water, and at other times twenty. It is composed externally of light 
dry sticks, internally of a thin layer of slender grasses or fibrous roots, and 
has some resemblance to that of the Carolina Pigeon in this respect that, 
from beneath, I could easily see the eggs through it. These were regularly 
four in all the nests that I saw, of a white colour, with many dots towards 
