92 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



wings, as if gliding along in the air, and again they 

 .spe«i away with the swii'tness of an arrow in piursuit of 

 an insect or an «nemy, doubling on it with the greatest 

 *ase. The males are especially pugnacious during the 

 mating season, and fierce combats ensue between rivals 

 ior the possession of the covet-ed female ; but after they 

 are mated they rarely light among themselves, but 

 •quickly come to each other's assistance against a common 

 enemy. 



" Fnom the obsei'vaitions made in the United States 

 Depaitmenit of Agriculture, about 90 per cent, of the 

 lood of this species consists oi lareimal matter, princi- 

 pally beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, spiders, wild 

 oees, wasps, and millipeds ; to this list can be added 

 •caitenpillajrs, diflerenlt ispecies of flies, like the large 

 black gadfly, so amnioying to 'horses and catltle during 

 the BUjmmer nnonths. and smiaill miinniows." "Ilhe vege- 

 baWe matter found in their isltonraohs coiisisits mainily oi 

 ■saissaJfras amd spiceibmsih (berries, iwild clhoketoerries, juni- 

 jper and diogiwood Iberwes, miullbertieis, (blackberries, 

 hjucklelberrias, eflderberries, ipokelberries, and frost 

 gnapes." "The dndiigestible portions, like the wing 

 ccKvens of ibedtles, Itihe (leg's of gnasshopipers, and seeds of 

 berries, are ieij«c(t€id in peJlete. The Kingbird loves a 

 rather open country, and is irarely found nesting ait any 

 jreat distance fi-om water, and it shuns densely-timibered 

 tracts. 



" In the more southern section of its breeding ramge 

 nidifioation begins .usually in the ifii-st JiaJf of May, 

 •while in northern New York and our North-Westem 

 iS'ilates it raa^aly nests Ibefore June, more generally in the 

 .latter (part of this monith, and ifitill later in tihe exltreme 

 northern parts of dt.s range. The nesits are placed in 

 various kinds of trees, such as apple, pear, tulip, chest- 

 nut, elm, poplar, cottoniwood, iwillow, oak, sycamore, 

 ■osage, orange, cedar, maiple, Iterah, ba/wthjom, locust, 

 wild plum, orange, and demon, as well las in ehrulbs and 

 bushes of different Hvinds, igenerally at a distance of 

 from fbur to forty feet from the ground. Tlhey are 

 usually placed in a fork or crutch on a horizontal branch, 

 and ifreqnenltJy well out on the Idmlb. Tliey are not at 

 ■all particular in the seJection of a nesting site ; i (have 

 seen nests placed on a fence rail (isometimee on top of 

 •one), and lagain between the raiils, not over two feelt 

 from the gTound, in tihe hollow topsi of stumps, and in 

 .albaindoned nests of the Robin and the Bronzed 

 Crackle. 



" Tlhe Kingbird, like miany other species, after seilect- 

 img a suitable nesting site and raising its young un- 

 moleslted, rwill generally return to it fixrai year to year. 

 The nest is nsnally rweH iand oorajpaotly built, aaud varies 

 more or less in size and bulk, according to the site. A 

 typical nest aiow before me, talken by Dr. Edgar A. 

 Meains, United iStiates Anny, near Port iSnelling, Minne- 

 :Sota, measures about 6i indies lin outer diamelter Iby 

 3i inches lin depth ; its inner iddameter is 5 inches by 

 13 inches deep. Its ex'terdor is iconistruoted of small 

 t<wdgs and dry weed isltems, mixed (witli cottonjwood 

 don-n, pieces of twine, and a llilttle hair. The inner cinp 

 is lined with tine dry grass, a few rootlets, and a small 

 quantity of horsehair. In other ifipeoimens bits of swool. 

 .-stTips of b^ank, thistte-down. icattle-hair. and tine root- 

 lets are incorporated in the body of the nest.* 



" The nuaJe assists in the const^ruofcion of (the nesit, and 

 to some extent in the duties of incubation. He relieves 

 •the female from time to time to allilaw her to feed, guards 

 the nesting site, and is usually iperdhed on a limb close 

 Ivy, -where ihe has a go od ■view of the surrounddngs. 



♦ Major Bendire th«n proceeds to describe other nes'ls Tarrmf 

 more or lees in, the materials employed. DouMIeee, a.s with 

 •other birds, the mateiriala Trhioh are most handy m the par- 

 ■ticular neighboarhood are used. 



Even when so emgaged he rarely Bits eiitu'ely quiet, 

 but eve^ry few nrinutes eleivates 'his cresit, aind looks 

 around for a possible enemy. An egg is ideposiited daily, 

 and iaiculbation lasts from Ittwelve Ito thirteen days. The 

 young, •while in the nesIt, are fed entirely on a^nimiail 

 food, and are able to leave it in lalbouit itiwo weeks after 

 hatching, land isoon ileai-n to provide for ithemseives. 

 A second brood is occasionally raised in the more 

 southern portions of their breeding range. 



" The iKdngbiird is not miarticulariy sociable, -each pair 

 keepinig ipreltty much to themselves during tlie breeding 

 seasonj 'and later 'in famiily parties, until ithe ra^initer 

 migration commences, when they gather in flocks and 

 deparit for the south. 



'Three or four eggs are laid to a set ; in isome locaJd- 

 ties three seems to be the rule. This is especially the 

 case in the more southern portions of t.heir breeding 

 range, .while farither north they geJiei'a'My lay four. 

 Although the Kingbird is credited by sevei'al iwriters 

 as laying from three to five eggs, and sometimes even 

 six, I have never seen a larger set iihan four among 

 the many examined, and sets of even five egigs must be 

 conjsidered as very unusual. The groumd-colour of these 

 egigs varies from 'wlliite or |pale creamy-white to a very 

 faint rose-pink, and they are spotted and blotched with 

 chestnut, claret-lbroiwn, cinnamon, rufous, helitftrope- 

 purple, and lavC'Uder. The markings vary greatly both 

 m size and quantity, 'but are geiijeraJly heaviest abou,-; 

 the larger end of the egg. In the more CnelyHmarked 

 specimens the spots are usually more profuse and evenly 

 distributed, and occasionally an almost unmarked eigg 

 is found. The shell ds rather smoot.h, olose-grained, 

 moderaitely strong, and slightly g'lossy. The eg.gs are 

 mostly o^vate 'in shape, raruginig Ifrom tltis to short an'd 

 rounded ovate, and a few ale elongate ovate. 



" The average meaisurement af 140 eggs in the United 

 States National Museum colieciion i.« 24.06 by (18.21 

 mi'llimetres, or about 0,95 by 0.72 inch." 



Dr. Russ speaks of this bird as rare in the maiiket, 

 and never to be regularly m'Ct with even in zodo^oal 

 gardens, whilst it is haixJIy ever exhibited by avioul- 

 turists, lalthough he knew of an example in the posses- 

 sion of E. von Schleoliitendal, who kept it in a flight- 

 cage, where it fluttered about with a gentle, weak 

 flight, like a great butterfly, now aga^inat the wii-es and 

 now on to the foodipan. He thinks that iif in perfect 

 plumage it ought to be feept in a very large aviary in 

 order to 'Shaw off its flying powers. 'It has bee'n exihd- 

 bited at the London Zoological Gardens. 



Melancholy Tyrant (Tyrannus melanchoHcus). 



Above greenish-grey ; wings and tail dusky blackish, 

 with more or less pale edges ; crown -niith a crest of 

 erectile soarle't and yellow feathers ; thixjat greyish- 

 ■wihite ; rest of body belaw yellow, more or less greyislh 

 on the breast ; imder wing coverts ipale yeillow ; bill 

 and feet black; drides brown. Female not differen- 

 tiated, but prdbaWy •with smaller crest and less 

 attenuated outer primaries. " Halb., 'Mexico aJid Oenltral 

 and South Amei-ica down to Buenos Ayres." iSclater.) 



HucLson says ("Argentine Ornithology," Vol. I., pp. 

 158-160) : — " The violent and bold temper exhibited by 

 most Tyrant-birds during the breeding season — a quality 

 from which is derived the name of the family, is per- 

 hajte carried to a greater degree in this species than in 

 any other ; and when one si>ends maii.y days or weeks 

 m the marshy, littoral forests, where "the bird is most 

 abundant, and hears its incessant distre.'ssful screams, 

 the specific name melanchoHcus does not seem altogether 

 inappropriate ; and that is the most that can be said 

 of any specific name invented by science, and which 



