THE HOODED FLY 0 ATCHI NG-WARB LEIi. 
13 
May has laid its eggs, or sometimes even hatched them. It arrives in 
South Carolina in April, immediately constructs its nest, and has young 
quite as soon as in Louisiana. 
The Hooded Flycatcher is one of the liveliest of its tribe, and is almost 
continually in motion. Fond of secluded, places, it is equally to be met with 
in the thick cane brakes of the high or low lands, or amid the rank weeds 
and tangled bushes of the lowest and most impenetrable swamps. You re- 
cognise it instantly on seeing it, for the peculiar graceful opening and closing 
of its broad tail distinguishes it at once, as it goes on gambolling from bush 
to bush, now in sight, now hid from your eye, but constantly within hearing. 
Its common call-note so resembles that of the Painted Finch or Nonpareil, 
that it requires a practised ear to distinguish them. Its song, however, is 
very different. It is rather loud, lively, yet mellow, and consists of three 
notes, resembling the syllables weet, weet, weetee, a marked emphasis being 
laid on the last. Although extremely loquacious during the early part of 
spring, it becomes almost silent the moment it has a brood; after which 
its notes are heard only while the female is sitting on her eggs ; for they 
raise two, sometimes three, broods in a season. 
Full of activity and spirit, it flies swiftly after its insect prey, securing 
the greater part of it on wing. Its flight is low, gliding, and now and 
then protracted to a considerable distance, as it seldom abandons the pur- 
suit of an insect until it has obtained it. 
The nest of this gay bird is always placed low, and is generally attached 
to the forks of small twigs. It is neatly and compactly formed of mosses, 
dried grasses, and fibrous roots, and is carefully lined with hair, and not 
unfrequently a few large feathers. The eggs are from four to six, of a dull 
white, spotted with reddish-brown towards the larger end. The male and 
female sit by turns, and show extreme anxiety for the safety of their eggs 
or young. 
My worthy friend John Bachman, gave me the following account of the 
courageous disposition and strength of attachment of the Hooded Flycatcher. 
“I found a nest of these birds in a low piece of ground, so entangled with 
smilax and briars that it was difficult for me to pass through it. The nest 
was not placed more than two feet from the ground. This was in the month 
of May, and the parents were engaged in feeding the young it contained. 
Not far from that spot, whilst on a stand, waiting for a deer to pass, I saw 
another pair of the Hooded Flycatcher collecting materials to build a nest. 
The female was the most active, and yet the male was constantly near to her. 
A sharp-shinned Hawk suddenly pounced upon them, seized the female, and 
flew off with her. The male, to my surprise, followed close after the Hawk, 
flying within a few inches of him, and darting at him in all directions, as if 
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