244 FLYCATCHERS. 



relieve her by watching the nest, and thus give her an opportunity to 

 seek food for lierself. I never saw a Kingbird either assist in brooding 

 or carry food to his mate, but his manners to her are most affection- 

 ate, and he is untiring in his labors in the feeding of the young. 



This bird is accused of being quarrelsome and aggressive to other 

 birds, and his scientific name means Tyrant Flycatcher, but in my 

 study of his ways I have found him less aggressive than are most birds 

 in the neighborhood of their nest. With the exception of the Crow, 

 against whom he seems to have a special grudge, I have never seen a 

 Kingbird take notice of any bird unless he alighted near his nest, and 

 the meekest creature that wears feathers will try to drive away stran- 

 gers who approach that sacred spot. 



The calls and cries of the Kingbird are generally loud and attract- 

 ive, if not particularly musical, but while his mate is sitting — and pos- 

 sibly at other times — he indulges in a soft and very pleasing song, 

 which I have heard only in the very early morning. 



Olive Thorne Miller. 



445. Tyrannus doxninicensis {Gmel.). Gray Kingbird. Ad.— 



Upper parts ashy gray ; a concealed orange-red crown patch ; wings and tail 

 fuscous ; under wing-coverts pale sulphur-yellow ; under parts white, tinged 

 with grayish on the breast. L., 9-00 ; W., 4-60 ; T., 3-50 ; B. from N., -80. 



^a^ip-e.— Breeds from the coast of South Carolina southward through 

 Florida and the Greater Antilles ; winters in the Lesser Antilles, Mexico, and 

 Central America ; accidental in Massachusetts. 



Nest^ of grass and weeds, lined with line grass and rootlets, in bushes. 

 Eggs^ four, deep salmon, irregularly spotted and blotched with umber and 

 lilac, 1-00 X -75 (Maynard). 



The Gray Kingbird is a common summer resident of parts of our 

 South Atlantic States, arriving early in May. It resembles the King- 

 bird in appearance, but lacks the white band at the end of the tail, 

 and has quite different notes. Its usual call is a vigorous pitirri, 

 pitlrri, which in Cuba gives it its common name. 



The Arkansas Kingbird (44'^. Tyrannus verticalis)^ a western species, 

 has been taken in Iowa, District of Columbia, Maine, New Jersey, and New 

 York. 



452. Myiarchus crinitus {Linn.). Crested Flycatcher; Great 

 Crested Flycatcher. Ad. — Upper parts grayish brown, washed with olive- 

 green ; outer vane of primaries margined with pale rufous; inner vane of all 

 but the middle tail-feathers ^a?e r^*/b^^s/ throat and breast pearl-gray ; belly 

 sulphur-yellow. L., 9-01 ; W., 4-14 ; T., 3-75 ; B. from N., -62. 



'Range. — Breeds from Florida to New Brunswick; winters from southern 

 Florida to Central America. 



Washington, very common S. E., Apl. 25 to Sept. Sing Sing, common 

 S. R., May 7 to Sept. 12. Cambridge, uncommon S. K., May 15 to Aug. 



