[390] BIRDS OF OREGON 



intermixed, as individual birds watch every few yards from their chosen 

 perches. The Western Kingbird is much the more common of the two 

 throughout this section of the State, although the Eastern Kingbird is 

 plentiful enough in the John Day River, Burnt River, and Malheur River 

 Valleys, to mention only a few typical habitats chosen by this bird in 

 Oregon. 



Arkansas Kingbird: 



Tyrannus verticalis Say 



DESCRIPTION. "Adult male: Upper parts and breast light ash gray; throat paler; 

 belly lemon yellow; tail black, outer web of outer feather abruptly white; wings 

 brown, end of long quills with gradually narrowed points; concealed crown patch red. 

 Adult female: similar, but tips of outer quills less narrowed and crown patch restricted. 

 Young: like adults, but crown patch wanting and colors duller, wing coverts bor- 

 dered with buffy. Length: 8.00-9.50, wing 4.75-5.2.5, tail 3.65-4.00, bill from 

 nostril .50-. 5 5." (Bailey) Nest: Rather untidy, of weed stems, feathers, string, 

 paper, straw, or any other available material, usually in small trees, low bushes, or 

 on fence posts and telephone poles or sometimes on ledges on the face of cliffs. Eggs: 

 Usually 4, white or flushed with pink, heavily spotted or blotched with brown 

 (Plate 70, A). 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern British Columbia, Alberta, and 

 Manitoba south to Lower California and northern Mexico. Winters south to 

 Nicaragua. In Oregon: Regular summer resident. Abundant in eastern Oregon and 

 Rogue River Valley, where it is a conspicuous breeding species. Less common else- 

 where west of Cascades, although there are many records. 



THE ARKANSAS KINGBIRD, or Western Kingbird, as it is called by most 

 western ornithologists, is a conspicuous summer resident of the open 

 country east of the Cascades from mid-April (earliest date, April 6, Wasco 

 County) to late August (latest date, August 30, Jackson County). There 

 it may be found perching on fences or telephone lines, capturing its 

 insect prey by short twisting sallies in approved flycatcher fashion. Fre- 

 quently during the late summer mixed groups of this species and the 

 Eastern Kingbird will be found strung out along the telephone lines, 

 bright yellow bellies of these birds showing in striking contrast to the 

 pure white of the eastern species. Except in the higher mountains, it is 

 one of the most conspicuous birds and is particularly abundant in irri- 

 gated districts where the swarming hordes of insects make fat living for 

 many summering birds. 



West of the Cascades it is almost equally common in the Rogue River 

 Valley but becomes more of a rarity to the northward. We have found 

 it in Lane, Douglas, Clackamas, Josephine, Jackson, Multnomah, Coos, 

 Curry, Marion, Polk, and Benton Counties, including nests in Douglas 

 and Benton Counties. Shelton (1917) recorded it from Lane County, and 

 Woodcock (1902.) listed it from Benton and Marion Counties. Walker 

 (1914) recorded a pair taken in Tillamook County, May 8, 1918, and 



