42 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



return. In more restricted quarters, the tactics vary. In the canal, 

 for instance, which parallels the highway on Key Largo from the 

 Card-Barnes Sound Bridge, I have watched kingbirds virtually dive 

 from a mangrove perch to the water. The recovery and ascent ap- 

 pear very loosely accomplished, as if the wings were almost com- 

 pletely pivoted. This must be what Richard Hill noted in Jamaica 

 and so aptly described as having the "appearance of tumbling, and, 

 in rising again, ascends with a singular motion of the wings, as if 

 hurled into the air and endeavoring to recover itself." Though most 

 of the kingbirds flutter their wings rather rapidly in flight, this 

 species seems to exhibit the habit to a greater extent, the vibrations 

 being very noticeable. 



The tameness of the gray kingbird is marked. It allows close ap- 

 proach and appears indifferent to observers, though excitable enough 

 when the nest area is invaded. It is very noisy then and indulges the 

 habit of snapping the beak. Some pairs of birds are more truculent 

 than others and defend the nest strenuously, even against human beings. 

 Without actual contact being made, one sometimes dodges invol- 

 untarily as the excited, chattering birds swoop and dive about one's 

 head. J. H. Riley (1905) speaks of a nest found on Eleuthera Island, 

 Bahamas, where the owner or owners darted almost into his face as 

 he was investigating it. I had a somewhat similar experience with 

 a nesting pair on Pavilion Key in the Ten Thousand Islands of 

 Florida. 



While the gray kingbird frequents the remotest wilderness areas, 

 such as the Cape Sable district of south Florida, it occurs freely 

 about cities and towns as well. It seems to make no difference 

 whether absolutely primeval conditions prevail or the roar of city 

 traffic resounds on all sides. I have watched the bird from a Miami 

 hotel window as easily as I have studied it among the mangroves of 

 Cuthbert Lake. Many of the east and west coast Florida towns have 

 sizeable populations of the species, and it abounds in Key West. 

 This inclination makes it easy to know, and the observer who visits 

 its range will have no difficulty whatever in finding and studying 

 the bird at will. 



Voice. — The gray kingbird is a noisy species. Its voice is certainly 

 one of its outstanding characteristics and draws mention by all who 

 have written about it. Most of these observers are in universal 

 agreement and unite in voting it vociferous. 



The eastern kingbird too is a noisy creature, but it is outdone by 

 its larger southern cousin. As C. J. Maynard (1896) has expressed 

 it, "The northern species are noisy birds but in this respect they 

 are excelled by the Gray King Birds which are constantly chatter- 

 ing." While not literally true, this statement covers the ground 



