The reason why a bird or animal performs a certain act will vary according to the observer's angle.
Writers have attributed many motives to the CRESTED FLYCATCHERS' habit of surrounding their nests with a castoff snakeskin, with nebulous result — they probably do not know and could not tell us if they did. However we all like to push open the door inscribed WHY even if we come out the same way.
Wherever these Flycatchers reside their emphatic wheeps dominate all other bird voices. In a vocal contest even the noisy Blue Jay succumbs. They are less belligerent than Kingbirds but their imperious call seems to effectively warn marauders from the vicinity. Their peculiar eggs were among the highly prized treasures of my early collection. They were common locally in thickets of central Long Island where most of my early ornithological investigations were pursued.
Eastern United States, rarely to southern Canada.