A Few Observations on the Crested 
Flycatcher. 
The Crested Flycatcher is quite common 
September, 1892.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
*39 
Nesting of the Great-crested Fly- 
catcher in Eastern New England. 
The Great-Crested Flycatcher ( Myiar - 
ck us crinitus ), as is the case with many 
other birds, is becoming more abundant 
every year. As lately as three years ago 
I considered myself lucky if I found two 
sets of eggs in a season, but now their 
nests are in almost every orchard. Arriv- 
ing by the second week in May, they fre- 
quent the woods and orchards in search of 
food until the latter part of the month, 
when the nest building begins. The nest 
is usually placed in a decayed limb of an 
apple tree, the birds scraping out the de- 
cayed portions until they are satisfied. 
Sometimes the deserted nest of a Flicker 
is used or a natural cavity in the body of 
the tree. The hole usually varies from 
one and a half to two and a half feet in 
depth, but one which I found was scarcely 
eight inches. 
The nest is composed of straw, grass, 
feathers, cast off snake skins (always), 
cedar bark and fur. It is completed and 
the set of eggs laid from the fourth to the 
ninth of June. Incubation lasts about ten 
days ; but, as the bird is on the nest only 
about two thirds of the time, the nest 
usually contains one or two addled eggs 
when the young leave. The number of 
eggs in a set varies from five to six. Five 
eggs are most often found and six are very 
rare. 
The ground color of the eggs is a creamy 
yellow, which is marked, as if done with a 
pen, with lines of brownish-purple and here 
and there a blotch of the same color. Some 
eggs are evenly marked over their whole 
surface while others have a thick ring 
around the larger end, leaving the rest of 
the surface thinly marked. A few eggs 
that I have found were spotted with no 
scratches, but I think these are very sel- 
dom found. The measurements vary from 
.606 inches to .701 inches in width by .S07 
inches to .905 inches in length. I think 
that the reason this Flycatcher’s nest is 
not more often found may be accounted 
for by the fact that whenever a person 
comes within sight of the bird it silently 
disappears. 
I have but once heard it complain or 
seen it appear while its nest was being 
examined, which contrasts greatly with the 
actions of the Kingbird, Wood Pewee and 
other Flycatchers. 
I have heard them use but one note, a 
harsh, loud whistle, which they utter at 
intervals from the time of their arrival till 
they leave, which is usually in the first or 
second week of September. I have never 
heard of any really good reason for the 
use of snake skins in their nest. Some 
nests are full of them, others have a few 
small pieces ; but I have never as yet found 
a nest without at least a small piece. 
I think that the theory of frightening 
away unwelcome visitors is not correct, as 
in several cases that I have seen the skins 
were completely hidden by the rest of 
the nesting materials. 
Can anyone give a good, substantial 
reason? J- H- Bowles. 
, and on 
June 4th. 
)rocess of 
0.& O Vol.17, Sept. 1892 p. 139 
id as any 
2 wish to 
let them 
did. 
the eggs 
I out on a 
flew away, 
before she 
lieve him. 
H§ ed and the 
young were fed by both parent birds. The 
time it took to hatch the eggs, as you may 
see, was seventeen days. I don’t know 
whether this is a little fast or slow. The 
young were fed on small grasshoppers, katy- 
dids, and other small insects. 
There were innumerable skirmishes with 
Blue Jays. Each one, however, turned out a 
victory for the Flycatchers. They would dart 
at the Blue Jays in much the same manner 
their cousins the King Birds do. The young 
left the nest on the afternoon of June 1st. 
They remained about the place for some 
days and then left. I think these birds did 
very well to hatch and rear their young 
under such disadvantages, for there was a 
yard of seven cats that watched them very 
attentively, and every bird escaped from their 
clutches. John C. Brown. 
Carthage, Mo. 
0.& O.Vol.13, Sept. 1893 p.124-125 
