BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 229 



beach at Ipswich, a tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird flew close above my 

 decoys, which looked gigantic and grotesque in comparison. Hummingbirds 

 occasionally utter a shrill note both on the wing and when perching. I have 

 also heard a deep note like a rattle emitted as they were chasing each other. It 

 is very pretty to see them fly straight up together like butterflies striking their 

 wings against each other. At these times the humming noise is temporarily 

 stopped. 



184 [444] Tyrannus tyrannus (Linn.). 

 Kingbird. 



Abundant summer resident; May 3 to September 19; average date of 

 arrival for eight years, May 9. 



Eggs: June 10 to July 4. 



The Kingbird may be found performing his erratic flight-song in the dim 

 light of the early morning or in the dusk of the evening as well as in mid-day. 

 He mounts into the air and then tumbles and darts down, only to repeat the 

 performance most persistently, screaming constantly. The notes at times dis- 

 tantly suggest a Phoebe's. I have seen one thus employed on July ist, after 

 sunset, when it was quite dark and there was a thick fog. It is not uncommon 

 for these performances to be continued late into August, long after the nuptial 

 season. 



Although far removed from the LimicolcB, the Kingbird is one of the few 

 Passerine birds that regularly frequent the beach, and it is often to be found 

 there catching the beach flies on the dry sand. Although it often alights on the 

 sand, I have never seen it move from place to place by its feet alone, for it 

 always rises into the air by means of its wings and flutters perhaps only a few 

 inches. It might be said to hop with its wings, for its feet often dangle until it 

 again touches the ground. I have seen a Kingbird move sidewise on the edge 

 of a board by successive movements of the legs, with an occasional hop. 

 Another evidence of the fondness of the Kingbird for the sea, I find in my 

 Magnolia notes of July 13th, 1877, where one is recorded as flying over and 

 striking his breast into the ocean. 



