• THE KINGBIRD. 237 



it is almost needless to (hvell on it, as it is well known that tliev will boldlv 

 attack and drive otf the largest of our Knptores, should one venture too near to 

 their chosen nesting sites. Where a pair or more of these birds make their 

 home in the vicinity of a farmhouse, the j)oultry yard is not likel}' to suffer 

 imicli tlirough feathered marauders at least; they are a perfect terror to all 

 hawks, instanth' darting at and rising above them, alighting on their shoulders or 

 necks, iuid nickiny aAvav at them most unmercifullv luitil thev are onlv too 

 willing to l)eat a hasty retreat. The male is seemingly always on the lookout 

 from his perch on the top branches of a tree or post for such enemies, and no 

 matter how large they may be, a i)air of Kingbirds is more than a match for 

 au}' of them, our larger Falcons and Eagles not e.xcepted. Crows and Blue 

 .Ta^•s seem to be especially olmoxious to them, and instances are on record 

 where they have done them material injury. 



J>om the foregoing it.nuist not be assumed that our Kingbirds are g-enerally 

 quarrelsome and that they bully all other l)irds, as this is l)v no means tlie case. 

 As a rule they live in perfect harmony with all their smaller relatives, and some 

 of the latter's nests are not infrequently placed within a few feet of one of theirs, 

 in the same tree, like that of the Orchard Oriole, for instance; and they are not 

 content witli protecting their own voung and eggs, but Wiitch over tliose of their 

 neighbors as well. The only species I have observed as being on bad terms 

 with the Kingbird is oin- little Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which is well 

 known to be, if possible, even more aggressive and pugnacious than the former, 

 and it would seem as if, small though he may be, he is a match for the average 

 Kingbird, and probably always the aggressor. T have on twn occasions seen a, 

 Ruby-throated Hununingbird put the other to flight. 



They arrive in our Southern States from their winter homes alxmt the tirst 

 two weeks in April, and move gradually northward, generally making their 

 appearance in the more northern States about the middle of May. The retui'u 

 migration from the far north commences in the beginning of August, and from 

 our Northern States usually in the latter part of this month. While by no 

 means uncommon in many localities west of the Rocky Mountains, here this 

 species is rather irregularly distributed, and while fairly abundant in certain 

 sections, it is entirely absent in others which seem equally well adapted to it. 

 I found the Kingbird rather common on the Malheur and John Day rivers, in 

 Grant County, Oregon, while in closely adjacent sections (as in the vicinity of 

 Camp Harney) I failed to observe a single specimen. I also met with it on 

 Snake River, near old Fort Boise, Idaho. It appears to me to be gradually 

 extending its range westward, and in Washington and southern British.Columbia 

 it idready reaches the Pacific coast in places. 



The Kingbirds are rather noisy on their first arrival in the spring, and give 

 free vent to their exuberance of spirits; tliey are very restless at tliis time, now 

 hovering or fluttering slowly from one treci to another, or from tence post to 

 fence post, the male following his mate with a peculiar, (piivering movement of 

 the wings and expanded tail, uttering at the same time a succession of shrill, 



