The Nest in the Gutter 7S 



( )n July i6, when tin (l;i\s old, the tn>t hird left iIk' nest, and on the fore- 

 noon of the lU'Xl da\ the other three, one at a time, llew olT to a nei^^hhoring 

 tree. M\ camera was si'l up rcvuly to take a picture of the last, and I was just 

 about to |)ush the shutter when he made a sudden departure and disappeared 

 among the foliage of a neighboring maple. Later in the da\ , however, I found 

 him again and i)laced him hack in the nest, having lirsl prepared the ( amera 

 so that I might lose no timi' in taking his picture. But mv haste ])r()ved uncalled 

 for, as he was in no hurr\- to leave again, but apparently glad to return home 

 once more after his first ex])erience out in the great wide world. Me remained 

 there all the rest of the afternoon, as motionless as the gutter upon which he 

 |>erched. And, when at dusk I passed b\-, hi> white brea:-! and throat slo.xl out 

 as a conspicuous landmark of the old homestead in whose narrow conl"ine> his 

 life thus far had been spent. In the morning he was gone, and only the bare nest 

 remained as a reminder of an interesting family history. 



The family was seen frequently around the orchard, and, after the young 

 had been out of the nest a week, the whole family of si.\ was discovered in an 

 apple tree. The young remained here for a half hour and during that interval 

 were fed ten times by the parents. Thc\- then Hew awa\- and scattered among 

 the neighboring trees. 



Although there were no color markings to distinguish the sexes, yet the two 

 showed' sufficient differences in habit to be told apart. Most of the incubating 

 was done by one bird, which presumably was the female. After the \-oung 

 were hatched, one showed more persistence in remaining at the nest when I was 

 near, and only one when attacking me came near enough to strike me. This 

 one I also took to be the female. And, when approaching the nest, there was a 

 difference in the number of call notes uttered by each. 



This pair showed none of the reputed pugnacit\- of the Kingbird toward 

 other birds. Eight to ten species of birds commonly frequented the house and 

 trees near, the audacious English Sparrow even perching on the eaves near the 

 nest, but the Kingbirds made no attempt to drive the other birds away. Several 

 other nests of Kingbirds were discovered in the vicinity, and their occupants^' 

 showed the same tolerance toward other birds and the same j)ugnacity toward!, 

 human beings. The Crow was the only bird that I saw the Kingbirds 

 chasing. 



After the young had left the nest, I removed it and examined the material 

 of which it was composed. The nest was boat-shaped in appearance, following 

 the outline of the gutter. On the outside was a mass of coarse material consist- 

 ing of strings, cotton, three kinds of cloth, a long piece of narrow tape, some knit 

 goods, a piece of linen, feathers, dried grass, rootlets and heads of several kinds 

 of composite flowers. Inside of this skeleton was a fme meshwork of rootlets 

 completely lining the coarser material; inside of this was a la\-er of rather coarse 

 grasses, and in this on the bottom of the nest were a few horsehairs. Thus there 

 were four distinct layers, the coarse material on the outside, the net of rootlets, 



