THE KINGBIRD. 



371 



The food of the Kingbird consists entirely of insects, caught on the wing 

 for tlie most part, by sallies from some favorite perch. His eyesight must be 

 very good, as he not infrecjuently spies his prey at distances of from twenty 

 to fifty yards. Honey bees form an occasional but inconsiderable article of 

 diet. Grasshoppers are not overlooked, and they sometimes capture, not with- 

 out a scuffle, those big brown locusts (Mclauophis sp.) which make flippant 

 exposure of their persons on a summer day. Both in the taking of food and 

 in the discharge of police duties the Kingbird exhibits great strength and 

 swiftness, as well as grace in flight. Once, when passing in a canoe thru a 

 quiet, weed-bound channel, I was quite deceived for a time by the sight of 

 distant white-breasted birds dashing down to take insects near the surface of 

 the water, and even, occasionally dipping under it. They had all the ease and 

 grace of Tree Swallows, but proved to be Kingbirds practising in a new role. 



This fondness for water is often exhibited in the birds" choice of a nesting 

 site. Where accustomed to civilization, orchard or shade trees are preferred, but 

 on many occasions nests are found on low-swinging horizontal branches over- 

 hanging the water : and. as often, in tiny willow clumps or isolated trees entire- 

 ly surrounded by it. The nest of the Kingbird sometimes presents that studied 

 disarray which is considered the height of art. Now and then a nest has such a 

 disheveled ap- 

 pearance as to 

 quite discour- 

 age investiga- 

 tion, unless 

 the owners' 

 presence be- 

 trays the se- 

 cret of occu- 

 pancy. On the 

 shore of Cold 

 Spring Lake, 

 in Douglas 

 County, we 

 noted a last 

 year's Bullock 

 Oriole's nest, 

 which would 

 not ha\'e at- 

 tracted a sec- 

 ond glance, 

 witli the new- 

 er nest hard 



Taken in Douglas County, 



Photo by IV. L. Uaics 



COLD SPRING L.^KE. 



THE ORIOLE-KINGBIRD NEST APPEARS NEAR THE TOP OF THE PROJECTING TREE. 



