404 TYRANNUS CABOLINENSIS. 



als also have the habit of visiting particular trees during certain hours of the day and I 

 have seen the same bird return to perch on the top of a high black walnut regularly every 

 day at a given hour in the afternoon. I do not think that he missed a day during the 

 two or three weeks that I observed him. These birds gutird their nests quite assiduously, 

 especially when they have young, but do not appear to pay their offspring much attention 

 after they have left the nest and have become somewhat accustomed to snapping up insects, 

 in which art they soon become expert. About the middle of August, when the young are 

 flying about, the adults become silent and retire to the woods to moult and soon after mi- 

 grate. 



GENUS II. TYRANNUS. THE KING BIRDS. 



Gen. Cii. Head, scmi-crcs/cd wi/h n l/rir/ht central paich of feathers. Outer quills, inriserl. Tail , sipiare and sli(jlithj 

 emartjinate. Hd<jht of keel, about equal to one half the lenejtk of the coracoids. Upper outline of manubrium, viewed from 

 the side, showing a rounded process with a truncated end. Marginal indentations, shallow but not very narrow. Only slight 

 traces of either division of the hroncho-trachcalis but the bronchialis is well developed. 



The colors above are dark but lighter below beiDg either white or yellow. The central patch of the crown is only jires- 

 ent in the adult stage. This genus appeal's to come next Myiarchus in laryngeal developement as well as in sternal char- 

 acters. 



TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS. 

 King Bird. 



Tyrannus Carolincnsis Bmrv, Birds N. A.: 1858,171. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cn. Form, robust. Size, medium. Sternum, not very stout. Feathers of the crest, somewhat lance-shaped. 

 Bill, shorter than the head. Tongue, thin, flat, and h6rny, bifid at tip, but not provided with cilia. 



Color. Adult. Aliovc, dark slaty-blue with the top of bead nearly black. Upjier tail coverts, dark and edged with 

 white. Tail, black with the outer wel) of two thirds of tlie terminal portion of outer feather rather widely, and a sliortcr 

 terminal portion of all the remaining feathers narrowly edged, and tips of them alt, white. Wings, dark-brown witli the 

 lesser («}verts slaty, and both rows tipped with white with a tinge of sulphury-yellow forming indistinct bai-s, wliile all the 

 remaining feathers are edged with white. Central ]5atch of feathers on the crown, bright-orange nnder which are some ol' 

 yellow. Bcneatli including under tail coTci'ts, pure-white with under wing coverts, sides, flanks, and an indistinct band 

 across the breast, slaty. Bill and feet, black. 



Yovnr/. Show traces of brown above, the head is not as dark, the oi-ange patch is not as extended, and the white tip- 

 ping to the tail is not as broad. 



Younrj of the year in autumn. Quite similar to the preceding but browner above, especially on the head which is 

 without the conceale<l central patcli. The white edgings of the feathei's of the rump are replaced by reddish .and the other 

 white markings above are tinged with sulphury-yellow. 



Ncstlimjs. Uniform brownish-slaty above. The white markings are much less extended than in the young and either 

 decidedly sulplniry or yellowisli-ruf )us. Beneath, jnire silky-wliite with but few traces of slaty anywdicrc. Inside of mouth, 

 yellow. Bill, black. Feet, plumlieous. Sexes, .similar in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



There is ))ut little individual variation in plumage even in specimens from Florida, but the bills of the more southern 

 birds are larger and have the curved tip longer. Nestlings from the same brood vary somewhat in amount (d' white on the 

 wings and tail, also in shade of color above and amount of slaty below. Distributed in summer thoughout Eastern United 

 States from Floritla, at least as far north as Canada. 



DIMENSIONS, 

 Average measurements of seven specimens from New England. Length, 8-,37; stretch, M-5.5; wing, 4-21; tail, .3-,31;: 

 bill, -7*3; tai-sus, -65. Longest specimen, 8-55; greatest extent of wing, 15-27; longest wing, 5-05; tail, 4-42; bill, -70; 

 wrsus, -CO. Shortest specimen, 8-30; smallest extent of wing, I.'i-77; shortest wing, 4-37; tail, ."i-lO; bill, '75; tarsus, -70. 



