THE KINGBIRD 



Kingbirds were for a long time believed to eat bees and 

 therefore were in disfavor. They were called Bee-birds 

 or Bee-Martins and were shot by bee-keepers who did not 

 understand their great value. Professor Beal and other 

 investigators in the Biological Department at Washington 

 have discovered that ninety per cent, of kingbirds' food 

 consists of insects, mostly injurious beetles that prey upon 

 grain and fruit. They occasionally eat bees, but exam- 

 ination of many stomachs reveals a marked preference for 

 drones over workers, and for wasps, wild bees, and ants 

 over hive bees." So kingbirds have been exonerated. 



2 Farmers' Bulletin 630, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 



THE GRAY KINGBIRD 



Flycatcher Family — Tyrannidoe 



Length: About 9 inches. 



Male and Female: Upper parts light gray, darker about the 

 cheeks; concealed orange patch on the crown; under 

 parts whitish, washed with gray on the breast; wings 

 and tail brownish; no white band on the tail, like 

 the northern kingbird; hill very heavy — almost an 

 inch long, with bristles at the base. 



Note: A loud call, Pit-tear'-re, "which is constant and is at 

 times lengthened and softened until it might almost 

 be called a song." ^ The natives of Porto Rico call 

 the bird "pitir're" because of its note. 



Range: Breeds from Georgia, southeastern South Carolina, 

 Florida, and Yucatan, through the Bahamas and 

 West Indies to northern South America; winters 



1 Biological Survey Bulletin, No. 326, "Birds of Porto Rico," by Alex. 

 Wet more. 



[237] 



