Range. West Indies, nesting north through Florida to southeastern South Carolina; winters to South America; reaches Florida early in May.
A not uncommon summer resident in parts of Florida and the coastal region of Georgia and South Carolina, with the general habits and appearance of our Kingbird, but with a quite different call which suggests the words pitírri-pitírri. It nests in May, laying four salmon-colored eggs, marked with dark brown and lilac.
CRESTED FLYCATCHER
Myiarchus crinitus. [Case 7], Fig. 5
The reddish brown tail-feathers may sometimes be seen and the crest is usually evident. L. 9.
Range. Eastern North America; nests from Florida to Canada; winters in the tropics, reaching Florida on its northward journey in March.
Washington, very common S.R., Apl. 20-Sept. 29. Ossining, common S.R., May 7-Sept. 12. Cambridge, rare S.R., May 15-Sept. 11. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 25-Sept. 15. Glen Ellyn, not common S.R., May 1-Sept. 18. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 25.
A character of the woods distinguished alike by appearance, voice and habits. His crested head seems too big for his body; his exclamatory whistle, which sounds like a shout above a monotone of conversation, his habit of always lining his nest with a cast-off snake skin, all mark him as an odd genius. Even his wife's eggs, with their long chocolate streaks, are quite unlike any other birds' eggs. They are laid in a hole in a tree in May or June.
PHŒBE
Soyornis phœbe. [Case 4], Fig. 52; [Case 5], Fig. 15
Head slightly crested, somewhat darker than body. In the fall the underparts are tinged with yellow. L. 7.
Range. Eastern North America; nests from northern Mississippi and northwestern Georgia to Canada; winters from South Carolina to Mexico. The only Flycatcher to winter in the eastern United States and hence the first to reach us in the spring.