284 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



hind toe on the level of the rest,- and the feet are fitted for perch- 

 ing. The musical apparatus is more or less developed. The 

 3'Oung are hatched weak and naked and must be fed in the nest 

 b)^ the parents for some time. Dr. Coues says: "They represent 

 the highest grade of physiological development, as well as the 

 most perfect ph3\sical organization of the class of birds. Their 

 nervous irritability is great, coordinate with rapidit}' of respira- 

 tion and circulation; they consume the most oxygen, and live the 

 fastest, of all birds. They habitually reside above the earth, in 

 the air that surrounds it, among the plants that with them adorn 

 it; not on the ground, nor on the waters under the earth." 



Suborder CLAMATORES. Songless Passeres. 

 Family TYRANNID^. Tyrant Flycatchers. 



The family is peculiar to America and most abundant in the 

 tropics. As a rule they are sedentary and solitary, sitting motion- 

 less upon a limb or post, awaiting passing insects, upon which 

 they pounce, returning to the same post after each capture. They 

 are not voiceless, but have comparativel}- limited vocal powers. 



Genus Tyr annus Cuvier. 



192. (444). Tyrayinus tyrannus (Linn.). Kingbird. 



The Kingbird is an abundant summer resident in Iowa from 

 the last of April or first of May until the early part of September. 

 The nesting season is from the first of June to the middle of July. 

 B. H. Wilson reports the earliest nesting date as May 21, 1877 

 (Scott). The site varies widely, — in dooryards, in groves near 

 dwellings, on farm machinery in yards and in the fields, in rows 

 of trees along roads, and in thickets along streams. The most 

 common situation is a tree along the roadside, about 15-20 feet 

 from the ground, and the birds usually make noisy demonstra- 

 tions when an intruder is in the vicinity. The Kingbird does 

 not hesitate to attack a Crow or large Hawk, and never fails to 

 put the enemy ignominiously to flight, flying above it and dash- 

 ing down at its head. It is said to eat honey-bees at times, and 

 is sometimes known as the " Bee-bird." Dr. Coues says it " de- 

 stroys a thousand noxious insects for every bee it eats." 



I once found a nest on the top of a slightly branched willow 

 fence post in the middle of a slough, and another in a small iso- 



