14 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



almost to the ground, the while jerking out in a high, squeaky, 

 tremulous voice their M-lci-ki, etc. 



A. Dawes DuBois wrote to Mr, Bent of a pair of kingbirds 

 courting on May 21, 1910. "One of them," he says, "went through 

 some very remarkable antics in the air, turning backward somer- 

 saults while flying." 



I once watched two kingbirds not 20 feet away whose behavior 

 strongly suggested a courtship of milder form than the wild display 

 in the air. Both were adult birds. One, a male I thought, was 

 perched not far from the other with feathers puffed out and head 

 erect and drawn back a little way. He twitched his tail sharpl}^ 

 downward over and over again, at the same time fanning it out. 

 These actions were plainly addressed to the other bird. Twice he 

 flew toward her ( ? ) , and she (?) retreated. Both birds were silent 

 except when once or twice one gave some sibilant notes. These notes 

 were not uttered while the bird was posturing ; they were not uttered 

 with any emphasis; and they did not suggest the kingbird's song 

 at all. 



Although the actions of this bird might well be suitable to court- 

 ship — it is to be observed that the two ornamented parts of the 

 plumage (the crown patch and the tail) were displayed — the date 

 (July 25, 1917) is too late to expect courtship with breeding intent. 

 I do not doubt, however, that the performance represented some 

 form of nuptial display. 



Nesting. — Like many birds whose breeding range extends over a 

 widely diverse country, such as the mourning dove, the kingbird 

 chooses a variety of nesting sites. Here in eastern Massachusetts 

 where a large part of the country consists of farmland, orchards, acres 

 of scattered trees, and woodland of small, thin growth, a typically sit- 

 uated kingbird's nest is built well up in an apple tree, often on a 

 horizontal limb, generally well out from the trunk, almost always 

 shaded by branches higher up. It is a rather large nest for the size 

 of the bird, and a little bulky. The outside is rough and unkempt, a 

 heap of twigs, straw, and twine, not finished off like the nest of the 

 wood pewee. Another favorite location here is in trees or low shrubs 

 growing along a river, often on branches overhanging the water. 

 In the West, however, in regions where there are few trees, the king- 

 bird may place its nest in the open, on a fencepost or a stump, in a 

 situation without concealment or shade. 



Even in the East, the bird occasionally resorts to this practice. 

 Fred H. Kennard (1898) reports such a case of nesting, in Bedford, 

 Mass., a farming district, on a fencepost "within 35 feet of the rail- 

 road, and immediately beside a road, over which men are travelling 

 back and forth all day long. * * * Xhis post was made of an 



