OllNITHOLOGIST 
— A N I) — 
OOLOGIST. 
$1.00 per Joseph M. Wade, Editor and rublisber. Single Copy 
Annum. Establixlied, March, 1875. 10 Cents. 
VOL. VII. BOSTON, DECEMBER, 1882. No. 23. 
Black-crested Flycatcher. 
prove it by showing me to the nest and 
letting me see for myself. They led me to 
a live oak in the pasture near the mouth of 
the canon, and approaching very carefully 
we saw the female fly from the tree. Re¬ 
treating a short distance we lay down to 
watch under another tree, from which we 
could jilainly see the the nest. So cau¬ 
tious was the bird that we grew very im¬ 
patient waiting her return to the nest. She 
was soon joined by the male, and they 
would fly about from tree to tree uttering 
their call-note, at the same time nervously 
jerking the tail somewhat after the man¬ 
ner of the Pewee {Sayornis /uscuh). Of¬ 
ten they w’ould approach quite close to 
the tree containing the nest, only to fly 
away to a more distant tree or bush ; and 
when the female did finally return to the 
nest she did so by direct flight from one 
of the most distant trees,—not gradually 
approaching from tree to tree, as most 
birds do. This method of returning to the 
nest I have noticed several times afterward, 
and consider quite characteristic. Fully 
satisfied that the nest was one of Phaino- 
pejda niters, I climbed to it, and, as re¬ 
ported by the boj’S, there lay three beauti¬ 
ful but very odd looking eggs. The nest 
was placed near the end of a hoi'izontal 
limb about twelve feet from the "round. 
o 
It was a flat, shallow structure, nearly four 
inches across the top ; the cavity was about 
two and one-half inches in diameter and 
less than one inch deep. In composition 
it was made up of small twigs and pieces 
of weeds, with blossoms of the live oak 
mixed through it,—most abundantly in the 
lining; there were also two small bits of 
sheej^’s wool. The material was so loosely 
woven together as to form a leather fragile 
nest. The eggs were of an oblong oval 
shajie, tailoring only slightly; ground-color 
a clayey -white, Avith many small coffee- 
colored spots on and around the smaller 
end, extending with uniformity up the 
sides to the middle Avhere they became 
much more numerous, forming a broad 
band around the larger end which was 
much more profusely sjjotted than the 
smaller. The eggs were jjerfectly fresh 
and measured .90x.G4, .92x.62, and .89x.62. 
The next nests Avere found May 8, about 
a half mile uja the canon, but Avere unfin- 
isiied and were not taken until foAir daA"s 
later, Avhen two sets, one of three and the 
other of two eggs, were obtained. Other 
sets Avere gotten May 13, 17, and 19, and 
June 2. Of the seven nests taken by me, 
four were saddled on horizontal limbs from 
four to tvA'enty-five feet aboAe the ground, 
and near the end; one Avas placed ujAon 
three smaller twigs, another ujjon tAvo, and 
the seventh Avas placed securely in a forked 
branch in the extreme summit of the tree, 
fully thirty feet from the ground. All of 
these nests Avere in live oaks, but Mr. Fred 
Corey Avrites me that he has, this season, 
found their nests in i)e 2 )iAer-trees, blue 
gums, and elders. 
The various nests examined by me agree 
very closely with the one already described. 
Some are better built, hoAvever, and some 
are even more frail than it, l)ut all are quite 
shalloAv, and the cavity in most of them is 
more nearly the form of an ellipse than a 
