FLYCATCHERS 



191 



bushes, preferably mesquite, 5 to 20 feet up ; constructed 

 of plant stems, weeds, thistledown, cotton or wool 

 felted and lined with moss or cotton ; sometimes built 

 entirely of cotton. Eggs: 4 to 6, generally 5, white, 

 or creamy, marked with chestnut, brown, and lilac. 



Distribution. — Breeds from .southern Texas to 



southern Kansas, less commonly in southwestern Mis- 

 souri, western Arkansas, and western Louisiana ; 

 winters from southern Mexico to Panama; accidental 

 in Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, 

 Connecticut, Vermont, Manitoba, Keewatin, and even 

 in Mackenzie River valley. 



This is one of the most picturesque and grace- 

 ful of American birds ; and he has individuahty, 

 too, which would make him conspicuous without 

 these physical peculiarities. His picturesqucness 

 is due chieflv to his long and strikingly marked 

 tail, which he is likely to open and shut when 

 he is excited about anything. This ornament 

 also serves to accentuate the grace or the erratic 

 character of the bird's aerial gyrations, many of 

 which apparently are indulged in simply for the 

 fun of the thing. One of these is a rapidly 

 executed series of ascents and dives, the bizarre 

 effect of which is heightened by the spreading 

 and closing of the streaming tail-feathers, the 

 performance being accompanied by harsh 

 screams emphasized at each crest of the flight 

 wave. Again and for no apparent reason he 

 will interrupt a slow and decorous straight-line 

 flight by suddenly darting upward, uttering at the 

 same time an ear-piercing shriek. Altogether 

 there is something rather uncanny about much of 

 this bird's conduct; and perhaps its unusual ways 

 are responsible for the Mexican peasants' belief 

 that its food is the brains of other birds, which 

 of course, is a hideous slander. 



Perhaps, however, this Mexican myth may 

 have been inspired by the bird's fearless attacks 

 upon White-necked Ravens, Caracaras, and other 

 predacious birds, which it will pursue with the 

 utmost fury and persistence, often lighting on 

 their backs, and doing them all the damage it 

 can by savage stabs with its bill. But this is 

 also a performance of our common Kingbird, 

 whom nobody has ever accused of the crime 

 charged against the Scissor-tail. It is an interest- 

 ing fact that this dare-devil form of attack 

 should be a characteristic of these two members 

 of the same family ; also that the Kingbird has 

 a flight trick which suggests the hysterical up- 

 ward dash of his long-tailed western cousin. 



The animal food of the Scissor-tailed Flv- 

 catcher amounts to 96 per cent, of the stomach 

 contents, practically all of which is insects and 

 spiders. The vegetable food is composed of 

 small fruits and seeds. 



Of the animal food, beetles amount to nearly 

 14 per cent, and form a rather constant article 

 of diet. Less than one per cent, belong to theo- 

 retically useful families. The others are practi- 



cally all of harmful species. Among these are 

 snout beetles, or weevils, and cotton-boll weevils. 

 Stink-bugs and squash-bugs are among the bugs 

 eaten. Grasshoppers and crickets are evidently 

 the favorite food; they are eaten every month, 

 with a good jiercentage in all except April. The 

 average for the year is 46 per cent. — the highest 



SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER 

 vl nat. size) 



for any Flycatcher. In general, grasshoppers 

 and crickets are eaten to the greatest extent by 

 the ground-feeding birds, such as the Meadow- 

 lark, while the Flycatchers take the flying bugs. 

 In this case the rule seems to be reversed. It 

 needs but little study of the food of the Scissor- 

 tailed Flycatcher to show that where the bird is 

 abundant it is of much economic value. Its food 

 consists almost entirely of insects, including so 

 few useful species that they may be safely dis- 

 regarded. Its consumption of grasshoppers is 

 alone sufficient to entitle this bird to complete 

 protection. 



