FLYCATCHERS 



IQ3 



or similar points of vrinlagc, from whuii they 

 can j^L-l an unobstructed view of at least the 

 innnediate surroimdings. 'l"o such selected 

 perches they are likely to return after dashing 

 flights to capture passing insects. The bird's 

 characteristic note is a sharp and shrill chatter- 

 ing cry, frequently uttered in flight, the i)hrase 

 (if it may be so termed) being emphasized at 

 its end by a swift upward flutter. 



The Kingbird furnishes a cons])icuous illustra- 

 tion of the saying, " Give a dog a bad name and 

 everybody will kick him." In this instance, the 

 bad name, " Bee Martin," has been furnished 

 by careless or ignorant observers who insist that 

 the bird destroys honeybees, whereas the care- 

 ful investigations of experts in the United States 

 Bureau of Biological Survey jirove conclusively 

 that no less than 85 per cent, of its food consists 



of insects, mostly of a harmful nature. It eats 

 the common rose-chafer or rose-bug, and, more 

 remarkable still, it devours blister-beetles freely. 

 As to honeybees, an examination of 634 stom- 

 achs showed only 61 bees in 22 stomachs, and 

 of these 51 were useless drones. On the other 

 hand, it devours robber-flies, which catch and 

 destroy honeybees. Grasshoppers and crickets, 

 with a few bugs and some cutworms, and a few 

 other insects make up the rest of the animal 

 food. The vegetable food consists of fruit and a 

 few seeds. The very slight damage that the bird 

 (Iocs should count for nothing when compared 

 with the great service it renders not only in 

 destroying noxious insects, but by its jiersistent 

 warfare upon Hawks and Crows, which often 

 atTords efficient protection to nearby poultry 

 vards and young chickens at large. 



Photo by H. K. Job 



A KINGBIRD FAMILY 



Courtesy of Uuting Pub. Co. 



GRAY KINGBIRD 



Tyrannus dominicensis {Giiiclin) 



\. o. u. 

 9 inches. Upper 



feathers of crown 



General Description. — Length, 

 parts, gray ; inuicr parts, white. 



Color. — Above, plain gray, the 

 with indistinct shaft-streaks of darker, with a large 

 concealed patch of orange or orange-red underlaid 

 laterally and behind with white ; upper tail-coverts, 

 deep grayish-brown margined with gray or rusty 

 brownish ; tail, dusky grayish-brown, the feathers mar- 

 gined terminally with pale brownish-gray or dull 



Number 445 



whitish, their outer webs indistinctly edged with gray, 

 the outermost narrowly edged with whitish ; wings, 

 deep grayish-brown, the coverts margined with light 

 gray or grayish-white (the edgings broader and whiter 

 on inner secondaries), the primary coverts and pri- 

 maries, dusky grayish-brown, very narrowly edged with 

 pale gray ; loral region, dusky intermi.\ed with gray ; 

 sides of head, dusky or dull blackish, with a few very 

 narrow shaft-streaks of pale grayish; cheeks and under 



