150 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



Egg of Couch Kingbird. 



catch, they can do but little damage. The common Kingbird can be mistaken 

 for no other bird because of his nearly black upper parts, white underparts 

 and white end to the tail, as can be seen in our illustration. The bright crown 

 spot is only seen when he is angry or excited; at other times it lies concealed 

 by the black feathers. 



The GRAY KINGBIRD is found in the United States only in Florida, 

 Georgia and South Carolina, being rare in the last named state. They are 

 very abundant on some of the West Indian Islands and on the Florida Keys, 

 but are only moderately common anywhere on the mainland of our country. 

 They are considerably larger than our common bird and are light gray on 



Egg of Ark Kingbird. 



the head and upper parts, but the ear coverts are black. These birds are 

 full}' as bold and aggressive as are our northern Kingbirds and like them, are 

 very noisy, but their notes differ and are said to resemble the syllables "pe- 

 chee-ry" uttered in a shrieking tone (Bendire). All their habits correspond 

 to those of the northern Kingbird. Their nests are usually placed in bushes 

 and preferably in mangroves where they will overhang the water. Their 

 three or four eggs very closely resemble those of the Kingbird but usually 

 have a strong pinkish tint to the background that makes them unusually 

 beautiful; they average slightly larger in size. 



Couch Kingbird, Arkansas Kingbird and Cassin Kingbird are very similar 

 in their appearances, therefore we figure but one, the Arkansas. Couch 

 Kingbird has a throat very light or white, and the tail brownish with no white 

 on it. 



Arkansas Kingbird has the throat light gray and the tail black, 

 with the whole of the outer web of the outer feathers, white. Cassin King- 

 bird has the throat dark gray and the tail like that of the last, but with the 

 white more restricted. All three of these species have the breast yellow and 

 have orange-red crown patches that can be shown at will. 



