92 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



wings, as if gliding along in the air, and again they 

 -speed away with the swiftness of an arrow in pursuit of 

 an insect or an .enemy, doubling on it with the greatest 

 .ease. The males are especially pugnacious during the 

 mating season, and fierce combats ensue between rivals 

 for the possession of the coveted female ; but after they 

 are mated they rarely fight among themselves, but 

 quickly come to each other's assistance against a common 

 enemy. 



" Ffrom ithe observations made in the United States 

 Department otf Agriculture, about 90 per cent, of the 

 food of this species consists o'f animal matter, princi- 

 pally beetles, grasshoppers, 'butterflies, 'spiders, wild 

 oees, wasps, and millipeds ,; to this list can be added 

 caterpillars, different species of fliies, like the- Large 

 black gadfly, so annoying ito horses and cattle during 

 .the summer months, and small minnows." "The vege- 

 table matter found in their stomachs consists mainly of 

 sassafras and spicebush berries, iwild chokebernies, juni- 

 per and dogwood berries, mulberries, blackberries, 

 huckleberries, elderberries, <pokebrries, and frost 

 grapes." "The indigestible portions, liike the wing 

 covers of /beetles, Itlhe degs of grasshoppers, and seeds of 

 berries, are ejected 'in peOddbB. The Kingbird loves a 

 rather open country, land is rarely found nesting at any 

 great distance liirom water, and At shuns densely-timbered 

 .tracts. 



" In the more southern section of its breeding rang 

 nldineation 'begins usually an the first half of May, 

 while in northern Xew York and our North-Western 

 States it rarely netsts Ibeifore June, more generally in 'the 

 latter (part of this month, and still later in tlhe lexitreme 

 northern parts c(f its .range. The nests are placed in 

 various kinds of trees, such as apple, pear, tulip, chest- 

 nut, elm, poplar, cotitonwood, willow, oak, sycamore, 

 osage, orange, cedar, maipLe, ibiroh, hawthorn, locust, 

 wild plum, orange, and lemon, as well :as in ishrubs and 

 bushes of different kinds, generally at a distance of 

 from fbur to iforty feet from the .ground. They are 

 usually placed in a fork or crutch on a horizontal branch, 

 and \frequenitLy well out on tlhe limlb. They are mot at 

 all particular in the selection of a, nesting site ; I have 

 seen nesits placed on ia fence rail '(sometimes on top of 

 one), and again between the rails, not over two feelt 

 from ith ground, in the hollow tope of stumps, and An 

 .abandoned nests of the Robin and the Bronzed 

 Grackle. 



" The Kingbird, like many other species, 'after select- 

 ing a, suitable nesting site and raising its young un- 

 .moLeslted, will generally return to lit from year to year. 

 'Th nest us usually well and 'compactly built, and varies 

 more or less in size and bulk, according to the site. A 

 typical nest now before me, taken by Dr. Edgar lA. 

 Mearns, United States Army, near Fort Smelling, Minne- 

 sota, measures about 6^ inches lin outer diameter by 

 3i andhes lin deiptlh ; its inner diameter ds 3 inches by 

 If inches deep. Its exterior is constructed of small 

 twigs and dry weed (stems, mixed with cottonwood 

 down, pieces of ftiwin-e, 'and ia little hair. The inner cup- 

 is lined with fine dry grass, la (few rootlets, and a email 

 quantity of horsehair. In other 'specimens bits of wool, 

 .strips of bonk, thistle-down, icattle-lhair, and fine root- 

 lets are incorporated in the body of the nest.* 



" The iimal assists in tlhe construction of ithe nest, and 

 to some extent in the duties of incubation. He relieves 

 ih female from time Ito time to aililow her (to feed, guards 

 the nesting site, and is -usually iperdhed on a limb close 

 'by, wher he has a good view df Ithe surroundings. 



* Major Bendire then proceeds to describe other neets, varying 

 more or less ia the materials employed. Doubtless, a.s with, 

 other birds, the materials which are "most handy in the par- 

 ticular neighbourhood are used. 



Even when <so engaged he rarely sits entirely quiet, 

 but every (few minutes eilevates h'is crest, and looks 

 around ;for a possible enemy. An egg is deposited daily, 

 and incubation lasts from Itwelve !to thirteen days. Th 

 young, while in the nesit, are tfed entirely on animal 

 food, and are able to leave it in lalboult two weeks after 

 hatching, and soon dearn !to (provide for \themselves. 

 A second brood is occasionally raised in the more 

 southern portions of their breeding range. 



"The tKingbtird is not particularly sociable, each pair 

 keeping ipretty much to themselves during the breeding 

 season, and later ; in family parties, until ithe winter 

 migration commences, when they gather in flocks and 

 depart for the south. 



"Three or four eggs are laid to a set ; in some 'locali- 

 ties three seems to be ithe rule. This is 'especially the 

 case in 'the 'more southern portions of their (breeding 

 range, , while farther north they geaiieralily lay four. 

 Although the Kingbird is credited by '.several writer^ 

 as ilaying tfrom three Ito five eggs, and sometimes even 

 six, I have never seen a larger set than four among 

 the many examined, and sets of even five eggs must be 

 considered as very unusual. The ground-colour of i 

 eggs varies from wfhiite or pule creamy-white 'to a very 

 faint rose-pink, and they are spotted and blotched with 

 chestnut, claret-brown, cinnamon, rufous, fheliotrope- 

 punple, and lavender. The markings vary greatly both 

 in size and quantity, but are generally heaviest afbou.-; 

 the Jarger end of the egg. In the more finely-marked 

 specimens the spots are usually more profuse and evenly 

 distributed, and occasionally an ail most unmarked egg 

 is found. The shell As rather smooth, close-grained, 

 moderately strong, and slightly glossy. The eggs are 

 mostly ovate in ishape, (ranging Ifnom this to short and 

 rounded ovate, and a few are elongate ovate. 



"The average measurement of 140 eggs in the United 

 States National Museum collection is 24.06 by 18.21 

 millimetres, or about 0.95 by 0.72 inch." 



Dr. Russ speaks of this bird as rare in the market, 

 and never to be regularly met with even in zoological 

 gardens, whilst it is hardly ever 'exhibited by avicul- 

 turists, although he knew of an example in the posses- 

 sion of E. von Schleohitendal, who k&pt it in a flight- 

 cage, where it fluttered about with a gentle, weak 

 flight, like a great butterfly, now again at the wires and 

 now on Ito the food-ipan. He thinks that iif in perfect 

 plumage it ought to be kept in a very lar^e aviary in 

 order to <show off its flying powers. It has been exhi- 

 bited at the London Zoological Gardens. 



MELANCHOLY TYRANT (Tyrannus melancholicus). 



Above greenish-grey ; wings and tail dusky blackish, 

 with more or less pale edges ; crown with a crest of 

 erectile scarlet and yellow feathers ; throat greyish- 

 wihite ; resit of body below yellow, more or less greyish 

 on the breast ; under wing coverts ipale yellow ; bill 

 and ifeet black ; drides brown. Female not differen- 

 tiated, but probably with smaller crest and less 

 attenuated outer primaries. " HaJb., Mexico and Central 

 and South America down to Buenos Ayres." (Sclater.) 



Hudson says (" Argentine Ornithology," Vol. L, pp. 

 158-160) : " The violent and bold temper exhibited by 

 most Tyrant-birds during the breeding season a quality 

 from which is derived the name of the family, is per- 

 haps carried to a greater degree in this species than in 

 any other ; and when one spends many days or weeks 

 in the marshy, littoral forests, where the bird is most- 

 abundant, and hears its incessant distressful screams, 

 the specific name melancholicus does not seem altogether 

 inappropriate ; and that is the most that can be said 

 of any specific name invented by science, and which 



