TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS : KING-BIRD. 1 5 



KING-BIRD; BEE-MARTIN. 

 TYRANNUS CAROLINENSIS (L.) Bd. 



Chars. Subcrested ; crown with a flame-colored patch ; two outer 

 primaries emarginate. Above blackish-ash, blackening on the 

 head ; below pure white ; breast shaded with ashy ; tail broadly 

 tipped with white ; bill and feet black. Length, about 8.00 ; ex- 

 tent, 14.50 ; wing, 4.25-4.50 ; tail, 3.50 ; bill, less than l.oo. 



No one of the Flycatch- 

 ers is more abundant in 

 New England than this 

 tyrant, nor is any one of 

 them so conspicuous a 

 figure on the highways 

 and in the by-ways alike. 

 The spirited creature is dis- 

 persed over all our country, 

 and therefore characteristic 

 of no faunal area ; but, in 



its local distribution, it is FIG. 3. KING-BIRD. 



most numerous in cultivated and populous regions, so 

 that the greater number of individuals in New England 

 is constantly under the eye of man, whose regard is re- 

 turned with cool audacity and entire self-reliance. The 

 vehement twittering, with which the King-bird expresses 

 the turbulent passions it feels, is one of the common 

 sounds of the orchard, old field, and road-side, wherever 

 the bold bird perches with martial bearing in wait for its 

 prey, or nervously dashes in the air on quivering pinion to 

 capture the passing insect, or put an enemy to rout. The 

 notes have been likened to those of Swallows, but they 

 are harsher, and pitched in a higher key. During the 



