PERCHING SONGLESS BIRDS. 



ORDER PASSERES: PERCHING BIRDS. 



SUB-ORDER CLAMATORES: SONGLESS PERCHING 

 BIRDS. 



FAMILY TYRANNIDiE: TYRANT FLYCATCHERS. 

 Kingbird: Tt/rannus Tyrannus. 



Bee Martin. 



Plate VII. Fig. 7. 



Length : 8 inches. 



Male and Female : Above black, orange-red streak on poll. Beneath 



grayish white, darkest on breast. Tail terminating in a white 



band. 



Bill and feet black. 

 Note : A piercing call note, — " Kyrie-K-y-rie ! " 

 Season .■ Common summer resident ; May to September. 

 Breeds : Through its United States range. 

 Nest : Bulky and deeply cupped, made of sticks and grass, lined with 



matted fibres, usually in a conspicuous position on a horizontal 



branch in orchards or thin woods. 

 Eggs : Nearly an inch long and almost round, cream or bluish white, 



boldly scratched and spotted with brown and lilac. Very hand- 

 some and richly coloured. 

 liange : Eastern North America, from the British Provinces south to 



Central and South America. Rare west of the Rocky Mountains. 



That the Kingbird — the second largest of our Flycatchers 

 — is a tyrant, as his Latin name indicates, no one will doubt 

 who has watched his tactics for a single day. He is born a 

 fighter ; he fights for his mate, he fights to protect his nest, 

 and when he no longer has a nest to protect he fights for 

 pure bravado, and Avhen he cannot find an opponent he 

 emulates Don Quixote. 



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