LAND BIRDS. 395 



distributed throughout the state in summer, and nesting freely along our 

 highways and in orchards everywhere. It is noted mainly for its frequent 

 and courageous attacks on crows and hawks, which have won for it the name 

 ''Kingbird," and it has also obtained, more or less unjustly, a reputation 

 for the destruction of honey bees which has given it the name of "Bee 

 Martin " or " Bee-bird." Its valor in defence of its nest is not to be doubted, 

 but the facts as regards bee-eating do not warrant the general opinion. 



It has been shown most conclusively, by the examination of numerous 

 stomachs, as well as by careful observation of the living bird, that it seldom 

 eats worker bees, usually contenting itself with drones. Of course it makes 

 an occasional mistake and snaps up an armed worker, undoubtedly paying 

 a severe penalty for its carelessness. The stomach examinations just 

 referred to (281 stomachs), made under our own direction, in the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, showed that about 90 percent of the food 

 consisted of animal matter, most of which was insects. These included 

 beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, bees, wasps, two-winged flies, and even 

 caterpillars. There were fifty honey bees in these stomachs, forty of which 

 were surely drones, and only four certainly workers. 



The bird feeds much like other flycatchers, selecting a perch from which 

 it makes frequent sallies after passing insects; but it also frequently descends 

 to the ground and picks up insects creeping there. It is fond of the vicinity 

 of water and may be seen frequently dipping its bill after the manner of a 

 swallow, and probably in some cases snapping up insects from the surface 

 of the water. Its characteristic flight, with widely spread tail and quickly 

 vibrating wings, is well known to every observer, and the species may be 

 identified almost as far as it can be seen by its characteristic motions. 



The nest is bulky and usually in plain view on the horizontal branch of 

 a scrubby tree, often a thorn tree or a neglected fruit tree in an orchard 

 or by the roadside. Occasionally it nests on 

 the bough of an evergreen, or even on the 

 timber of a bridge or the top of a fence post, 

 but these are departures from its usual custom. 

 Still more unusual is the condition described 

 by R. W. Chaney, in the Hamilton Lake region ^'^- ^^■ 



on the west side of the state. He says: "This ^'^^ °^ Kmgbird. 



species might be considered almost aquatic in its nesting habits, as the 

 nests were invariably placed in stumps projecting out of the water, often 

 at a considerable distance from the shore. Nests with eggs — always three 

 in number — were seen up to the middle of July" (Birds of Mason county, 

 Mich., Auk, XXVII, 1910, 274). The nest is compactly built of grass, 

 bark, roots, strings and often paper and rags, and lined usually with rootlets 

 and slender vegetable fibres. The eggs are four to six, pure white or creamy 

 white, boldly spotted and blotched with various shades of brown and lilac, 

 and average .95 by .69 inches. They are among the handsomest eggs 

 laid by our small birds. 



The Kingbird arrives from the south late in April or early in May, and the 

 nest is built during the latter half of Msiy, often not until the first of June. 

 Fresh eggs are likely to be found in the southern half of the state during 

 the first week in June, although many arc not laid until the middle of the 

 month. Not infrequently nests with eggs of young are found in July, 

 indicating a second brood, but it seems likely that these are mostly the 

 nests of birds who'have been unsuccessful in their first attempt. 



In August the Kingbirds often gather in small companies and feed 



