The Birds' Calendar 



to have become chronic, degenerating into mere 

 pugnacity, which is the impulse to contention 

 without the motive. With the irresistible ve- 

 hemence of a hornet it will dash upon any of its 

 fellows, big or little, putting crows, hawks, and 

 eagles to rout by its sheer audacity. The dis- 

 eased valor of this bird reminds one of pugna- 

 cious philanthropists, in whom the continual op- 

 position they have encountered has developed a 

 spirit of warfare that prompts them to champion 

 any good cause in which they may be sure of 

 hard fighting. 



This is one of the commonest birds in bushy 

 pastures and along the roadsides, a veritable 

 highwayman, conspicuous on telegraph wires 

 running across country, always perching in a 

 prominent spot where it can see the luckless in- 

 sects flying about, at which it makes a dash, 

 bringing its prey back to its post of observation. 

 The jingle of metallic sounds they utter on the 

 wing is far from unmusical, though a bit satiri- 

 cal ; but is not in any sense a song. Like the 

 other flycatchers they are not gregarious, being 

 seen only in pairs or singly, and are easily re- 

 cognized by the white band on the tip of the 

 tail, while the upper side is almost black, the 

 under side a dull white, and in its plumage and 

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