_Loggerhead._—_Great Crested Flycatcher._—+Wils.+
_Tyrannus crinitus._
_Muscicapa crinita_, +Linn.+—Aud. pl. 129.
_Tyrannus crinitus_, +Bonap.+
[52] Length 9 inches, expanse 13¹⁄₄, flexure 4¹⁄₈, tail 4, rictus
1²⁄₁₀, tarsus 1, middle toe ³⁄₄.
Though found in Jamaica through the winter, the Loggerhead is not then
very common; but in March many begin to frequent the groves, and trees
of the pastures; and may be observed pursuing each other in devious
flights, uttering a rattling cry, harsh, though not loud. As they
sit in a tree, they emit at intervals a loud _pirr_, in a plaintive
tone, ruffling the plumage, and shivering the wings at the same time.
Its general habits are those of its congeners, but it lacks their
pugnacity. Very large insects form its ordinary prey: one I shot in
the very act of taking a large _cicada_, while sitting on a twig, the
insect was still in its throat when killed. In November I have found
the stomach filled with the large red-berries of the Tropic birch.
Sam tells me he has found the nest of this bird, containing four young,
at the very bottom of a hollow stump, in a mountain district.