Myiarchus crinitus
Order Passeriformes
Family Tyrannidae
Subfamily Tyranninae
Adult.— Head dark brown above; back olive-brown; tail in flight nearly as reddish as a Brown Thrasher’s; wing-bars brownish-white; throat and breast ashy; belly sulphur-yellow.
Nest, in holes in trees.
Eggs, white, with dark streaks.
The Crested Flycatcher is a summer resident throughout New York and New England, but is absent from the forest region of northern New England and New York, except along the great water-courses. It is much commoner in Connecticut than in Massachusetts, where it is absent from many localities. It arrives early in May, and remains till September, but, like most of the flycatchers, is rather silent in August. It frequents orchards and woodland, breeding in holes in trees, generally using a piece of cast snake-skin in the material of the nest.
It has a very strong, harsh voice, and soon makes its presence known by its characteristic calls; one of these is a hoarse, long-drawn wheep; another is a lower whip whip whip, and a third a guttural, rattling cry. It frequents the tops of tall trees, and seems to get much of its food without the sallies into the air characteristic of the rest of the family. The crest is not nearly so prominent as in the Jay or Cedar the loose feathers on the head are partially erected. The loud, harsh notes first call attention to the bird, and the peculiar coloring of the under parts – ashy, yellow, and reddish-brown — should distinguish it when seen from below.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)