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I have heard complaints from bee-keepers that these birds will destroy bees. 

 It is just possible that they will occasionally take them, but I have seen no evidence 

 that they have acquired the habit. In case the Kingbirds should be seen fre- 

 quenting the vicinity of hives it would be well to watch closely before shooting, the 

 birds, as they are too valuable to be wantonly destroyed, and in all cases an exam- 

 ination of the stomach contents should be made, and the information gained should 

 be reported. 



Since writing the above I have received a number of reports from gentlemen 

 in various parts of the Province, who are engaged in bee-keeping, and who have 

 therefore had occasion to observe somewhat closely the habits of such birds as might 

 be suspected of injuring their bees. In no case has the Kingbird been found to be 

 injurious to the inhabitants of the hives, and in all cases the writers speak highly 

 of the services rendered by the Kingbirds in destroying injurious insects and 

 in driving away Crows and Hawks. 



Mr. Thaddeus Smith, of Pelee Island, says, " I am a cultivator of the grape 

 and other fruits and also a bee-keeper. ... I was raised in one of the 

 Southern States, and never knew the Kingbird there by any other name than 

 ' Bee Martin,' and of course it was considered a great enemy of the bees. I have 

 been here over thirty years, and at one time made the science of apiculture a special 

 study, raising choice Italian queens, etc. Kingbirds are here every season, and, 

 are to be seen around my bee hives. Years ago I killed some and examined their, 

 stomachs, and found them full of bees, but nearly every bee in them was a drone; I 

 found only one worker hee. You know the drones have no sting and as their name 

 implies they are of no use in the hive. They are the male bee, and their only use 

 is to fertilize the queen bee. The only damage the Kingbird can do is that they 

 might sometimes catch the young queen while on her wedding flight as her size 

 and slow flight make her quite conspicuous. But the possibility of this happening 

 is so slight that I never now shoot the Kingbirds." 



The United States Biological Survey has made an examination of 281 

 stomachs of King birds collected in various parts of the country, b:":^ found only 

 fourteen containing remains of honey bees. In these fourteen stomach? there were 

 in all fifty honey bees, of which forty were drones. Four were certainly workers 

 and the remaining six were too badly broken to be identified as to sex. 



One bee raiser in Iowa, suspecting the Kingbirds of feeding upon his bees, shot 

 a number near his hives, but when the birds' stomachs were examined by an expert 

 entomologist not a trace of honey bees could be found. (F.E.L., Beal B.S.) 



This coincides with my own experience during the last thirty years, during 

 which time I have examined a great many Kingbirds, but have never yet found 

 honey bees among the insects eaten by them. 



Phoebe. There is scarcely a farm in the country that has not one or morei 

 pairs of Phoebe birds nesting in or about the buildings, and I fancy there are not. 

 many bridges of any size under which a nest may not be found; and so I hope it 

 may continue, for the Phoebe is a most useful and friendly little bird. It has all 

 the good traits of the family without being too aggressive, and no suspicion of 

 any act which is in the least injurious attaches to it. If the birds and their nests 

 are left unmolested, they will return year after year to their old home, and as none 

 of our feathered friends are more valuable than they, we should give them every 

 encouragement to do so. 



I have particularly mentioned the Kingbird and the Phoebe because they may 

 be regarded as typical of the whole family to which they belong, and being 



