ARKANSAS KINGBIRD 57 



rapid series of short, staccato notes in an ascending, higli-pitched series, and 

 might be rendered as pit — it-it-it-it-it-it-it-it. In form the call somewhat re- 

 sembles that of the Vermilion Flycatcher, but it is much louder, sharper, and 

 higher-pitched. Besides the call, the heavy bill, whitish throat, bright yellow 

 belly, and brownish, emarginate tail all help distinguish it in the field, and the 

 tail characters are obvious in flight even at some distance. In spite of these 

 several easy distinctions, it seems probable that the birds have been allowed to 

 pass for Arkansas Kingbirds by the few ornithologists who have entered their 

 restricted ranges in the summer months. 



"We seem to have no evidence that the nesting habits and the eggs 

 of this kingbird are in any way different from those of the other 

 races of the species. The measurements of 45 eggs average 23.7 by 

 17.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 25^ 

 by 17.1, 20.1 by 17.9, and 24.9 by 16.2 milluneters. 



TYRANNUS VERTICALIS Bar 



ARKANSAS KINGBIRD 



Plate 6 



HABITS 



We formerly regarded the Arkansas kingbird as a western bird, 

 when it was known by the appropriate name of western kingbird. It 

 was then merely a straggler east of the Mississippi River and was 

 more or less rare as a wanderer or as a migrant in the States imme- 

 diately west of that river. And, as a straggler, it wandered as far east 

 as the Atlantic States during the latter half of the nineteenth century. 

 For example, there is an early record for Eliot, Maine, in October 

 1864 (Haven, 1926), and one for Riverdale, N. Y., on October 19, 1875 

 (Bicknell, 1879). Since what is apparently the first Massachusetts 

 record, Chatham, October 20, 1912 (Kennard, 1913), there have been 

 so many New England records that this bird might almost be consid- 

 ered a frequent visitor. And since the begimiing of the twentieth 

 century there have been numerous records from other Atlantic Coast 

 States — New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and Florida. 



There is abundant evidence, also, that this kingbird has been ex- 

 tending its wanderings, and even its breeding range, eastward in the 

 interior during the past 40 years. Without devoting too much space 

 to the subject, it seems worth while to cite a few examples. Referring 

 to Manitoba, P. A. Taverner (1927) says: "This species is another 

 recent arrival in ^lanitoba. E. T. Seton does not mention it in his 

 1891 list of 'Birds of Manitoba' and gives only adjoining records in 

 his 'Fauna of Manitoba,' 1909. The first record for the province 

 appeal's to have been a specimen taken at Oak Lake, August 10, 1907." 

 Other records followed until now he calls it "rather common through- 

 out southwestern Manitoba." 



