The King^bird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 

 By John James Audubon 



Length: About 8^ inches. The white lower surface and white-tipped tail 

 distinguish this flycatcher. 



Range: Breeds throughout the United States (except the southwestern 

 part) and southern Canada ; winters from Mexico to South America. 



Habits and economic status : The kingbird is a pronounced enemy of hawks 

 and crows, which it vigorously attacks at every opportunity, thereby aflfording 

 efficient protection to near-by poultry yards and young chickens at large. It 

 loves the open country and is especially fond of orchards and trees about farm 

 buildings. No less than 85 per cent of its food consists of insects, mostly of a 

 harmful nature. It eats the common rose chafer or rose bug, and more remark- 

 able still, it devours blister beetles freely. The bird has been accused of eating 

 honeybees to an injurious extent, but there is little ground for the accusation, 

 as appears from the fact that examination of 634 stomachs showed only 61 bees 

 in 22 stomachs. Of these 51 were useless drones. On the other hand, it devours 

 robber flies, which catch and destroy honeybees. Grasshoppers and crickets, 

 with a few bugs and some cutworms, and a few other insects, make up the rest 

 of the animal food. The vegetable food consists of fruit and a few seeds. The 

 kingbird deserves full protection. 



The Tyrant Flycatcher, or as it is commonly named, the Field Martin or 

 Kingbird, is one of the most interesting visitors to the United States, where it is 

 to be found during spring and summer. 



The kingbird arrives in Louisiana, from the south, about the middle of 

 March. Many of them remain until the middle of September, but the greater 

 number proceed gradually northward, and are dispersed over every portion of 

 the United States. For a few days after its arrival the kingbird seems fatigued 

 and doleful, and remains perfectly silent. But no sooner has it recovered its 

 naturally lively spirits than its sharp, tremulous cry is heard over the fields and 

 along the skirts of our woods. It seldom enters the forests, but is fond of 

 orchards, large fields of clover, the neighborhood of rivers, and gardens close 

 to houses. 



The choice of a nesting place being settled, the birds procure small dry 

 twigs from the ground, and rising to a horizontal branch, arrange them as the 

 foundation of their cherished home. Flakes of cotton, wool, or tow, and other 

 substances of a similar nature, are then placed in thick and regular layers, giving 

 great bulk and consistence to the fabric, which is finally lined with fibrous roots 

 and horsehair. The female then deposits her eggs, which are from four to six 

 in number, broadly ovate, reddish white or blush color, irregularly spotted with 

 brown. 



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