ARKANSAS KINGBIRD 59 



on business streets. At times it wanders far from home out over 

 the prairies, and may frequently be seen perched on a wire or fence 

 at a considerable distance from woodlands." 



In Cochise County, Ariz., we found the Arkansas kingbird abun- 

 dant at the lower levels, on the soapweed plains, about the ranches, 

 and along the dry washes, where there were trees, but not venturing 

 far up into the timbered canyons. Evidently the birds prefer the 

 open country to the more restricted canyons. 



Courtship. — I have never seen the courtship performance of this 

 bird, but E. S. Cameron (1907) makes the following brief statement 

 in regard to it : "The male indulges in a curious display when court- 

 ing the female. He makes successive darts in the air, fluttering, 

 vibrating his quills, and trilling as he shoots forward. Propelling 

 himself thus for several hundred yards, he looks like a bird gone 

 mad." 



Nesting. — The Arkansas kingbird builds its nest in a great variety 

 of situations, almost anywhere except on the ground. It apparently 

 prefers to build in trees, where suitable trees are available, which 

 very often is not the case. If in a tree, the nest may be placed against 

 the trunk, in a crotch, or, more often, out on a horizontal branch, or 

 occasionally on a dead branch. It may be placed at any height from 

 8 to 40 feet above the ground, but oftener 15 to 30 feet. Xests may 

 also be placed on bushes as low as 5 feet from the gi-ound. Some- 

 times several pairs build their nests close together in a grove or small 

 group of trees; and two or more nests have been found in a single 

 tree on rare occasions. The trees most often chosen are cottonwoods, 

 oaks, sycamores, and willows, perhaps because they happen to be the 

 commonest trees available. Nests have also been recorded in elms, 

 eucalyptus, junipers, apple trees and other orchard trees, locusts, 

 aspens, alders, and rarely pines; probably a number of others might 

 be added to the list, for these birds do not seem to be at all particular 

 in their choice. Claude T. Barnes writes to me that he has many 

 times not^d the fondness of these birds for locust trees, and thinks 

 this may be due to their height and comparative openness of foliage. 

 The^e kingbirds seem to prefer an open situation w]\ere they can com- 

 mand a clear outlook. 



Most of the nests that I have seen have been in trees, but in Alberta 

 near Many Island Lake, on June 16, 1906, we stopped to examine a 

 Swainson's hawk's nest that was situated in a little patch of large 

 brush on a steep hillside; the hawk flew from the nest as we ap- 

 proached; and within a few yards of the hawk's nest we found an 

 Arkansas kingbird's nest with three fresh eggs in it; it was placed 

 only 5 feet from the gi-ound in a "stony berry bush." On the soap- 

 weed plains in Cochise County, Ariz., on June 1, 1922, while we were 



