66 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



a hundred feet distant from him. The robin retreated 

 along the wire and alighted at a greater distance from 

 the aggressor; but the overbearing disposition of the 

 latter prompted him to make another unprovoked and 

 unnecessary attack upon the unoffending robin, and 

 drive her squeaking loudly over the bordering meadow. 

 Once in August a kingbird that was perched on the tele- 

 graph wire ahead of me audaciously attacked a young 

 red-headed woodpecker not yet in permanent colors, 

 which alighted on a pole near the tyrant, and quickly put 

 the astonished youngster to flight, pursuing it viciously 

 over an adjoining lot. 



It may be true that the kingbird has hereditary ene- 

 mies which he attacks at sight, but he seems to rank 

 naturally with tyrants and pugilists. He will certainly 

 defend his home and family with boldness and spirit, but 

 he is also a tyrannous fellow for mere love of tyranny, 

 and his reputation should be whitewashed by no excuses. 

 He is too suspicious of the intentions of his neighbors, 

 and often might avoid a quarrel by quietly attending to 

 his own affairs. Once in the conflict, however, his reck- 

 less daring and invincible spirit are worthy of admiration, 

 and to his credit it may be said that his battles are usu- 

 ally with the larger birds and the known enemies of his 

 more helpless fellows. The birds which he attacks are 

 generally known to harry the nests of the smaller birds, 

 and the'kingbird frequently saves the homes and families 

 of many residents of the orchard by thus driving away 

 felonious bird-tramps before they even enter the premises. 



The harsh notes and twittering cries of the kingbird 

 are doubtless as familiar to the residents of the rural 

 districts as the bird itself. It has no real song, since it 

 lacks the singing ai-)paratus with which the Oscines pro- 

 duce their musical tones. However, it utters a short 

 series of forcible sounds, forming a loud, sharp twitter, 

 without which no orchard would be complete and which 

 is not really unpleasant, though it has the element of 

 harshness possessed by all the utterances of the clamato- 

 rial birds. These twittering expressions of its emotions 

 are uttered by the bird when seated on any favorite 

 perch watching for passing prey, or when on the wing, 



