KING-BIRD 483 
in those quarters of the country where he is a regular migrant, 
he is familiarly known as the “Bee-Martin,’ a name he has 
earned from his fondness for the denizens of the bee-hive. It is 
only occasionally that naturalists refer to him as the TYRANT, 
while to ornithologists generally he is known as 7'yrannus carolinensis, 
belonging to the group of songless PAssERES called CLAMATORES. 
Some recent taxonomists, including the present writer, however, 
are inclined to regard the group as a superfamily of the PASSERES, 
to be designated the T'yrannoidea1 Dr. Coues has said of the 
Tyrannidx that “Only a small fragment of the family is represented 
within our limits, giving but a vague idea of the numerous and 
singularly diversified forms abounding in tropical America. Some 
of these grade so closely toward other families, that a strict defini- 
tion of the T7yrannide becomes extremely difficult; and I am not 
prepared to offer a satisfactory diagnosis of the whole group” 
(Key N. Amer. Birds, ed. 2, p. 428). With respect to our United 
States species, however, they are more or less closely affined, and 
have usually been all restricted to subfamily grouping—the 
Tyrannine. Of the genus Tyrannus, to which the King-bird belongs, 
there are some three or four other species or subspecies inhabiting 
various geographical areas in the United States, while some range 
southward into Mexico. Other North-American genera are Milvulus, 
including the handsome fork-tailed Flycatchers; Pitangus, the 
elegant Derby Flycatcher; Myiarchus, the Crested Flycatchers ; the 
genera Myiozetetes and Myiodynastes are also represented, as well as 
Sayornis (PH@BE). The still smaller forms are abundantly present in 
the genera Contopus, Empidonax, Pyrocephalus and Ornithion.* 
Many of the Tyrannidx have habits in common, while the 
King-birds have others that are essentially peculiar to the genus. 
To present an account of the most characteristic of these we 
may choose the eastern form as an example, and the extraordinary 
behaviour of this bird during the entire breeding season is the 
most remarkable trait to be noted. From the very day the building 
of the nest is first started, until the time when the young finally 
shift for themselves, the male of this species gives constant battle, 
without discrimination, to every bird that passes within range of his 
1 See Dr. Stejneger in Zhe Standard Natural History and elsewhere ; also 
Prof. Cope in The American Naturalist (Oct. 1889, p. 873). 
2 For the comparative osteology of several of the genera of the N. American 
Tyrannidz see the present writer’s ‘‘ Contributions to the Comparative Osteology 
of the Families of North American Passeres” (Journ. Morpholog. iii. pp. 
81-112). In that memoir some of the striking resemblances in the skulls of 
certain Laniidx and Tyrannidz are set forth, which are quite significant ; while 
for other points in the anatomy of these birds see Macgillivray in Audubon’s 
Orn. Biography, v. pp. 421, 422, and also the classical work of J. Miiller 
(Abhandl. K. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin, 1845, pp. 321-495). 
