JERRY THE KINGBIRD 201 



if it happened that way. While I watched, a beautiful 

 yellow butterfly came flitting by. Quick as a wink Jerry 

 caught him. Evidently that butterfly was quite a prize, 

 for while in the past each had eaten whatever they caught, 

 Jerry promptly presented his lady love with this butterfly, 

 which she took as a matter of course and swallowed greed- 

 ily. I had to go about my business and do not know 

 whether the butterfly had anything to do with it, but by 

 afternoon the matter was evidently settled, for I found 

 these birds apparently talking over the best place to set 

 up housekeeping. 



I want to say just a word about the kingbird family. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Kingbird are flycatchers, and belong to a 

 large family of flycatchers of which we have a number in 

 the United States. I am telling you the story of the king- 

 bird because he is found in practically every State in the 

 Union and none of the other flycatchers are so widely dis- 

 tributed in the summer, when most people study birds. 

 They are known as flycatchers because many species live 

 almost wholly on flying insects. They are moderately 

 small birds with an alert, nervous appearance. As most 

 species seldom alight on the ground and never scratch, 

 their feet and legs are generally short, altho they have 

 four good strong toes, the hind toe not being much if 

 any longer than the others. Their claws are sharp, mod- 

 erately strong, and arched, so that they can cling tightly 

 to a limb. In the smaller species the plumage is soft and 

 blending. In many species the bill is more or less tri- 

 angular and rather wide at the base to make it convenient 

 for catching insects. The tail is usually of moderate 

 length. Many varieties have a topknot and a small red or 

 yellow spot on the top of the head. The male king bird 



