NATURAL HISTORY. 



21 



OLIVE-SIDED KING BIRD. 



TRAILL S FLY-CATCHER. 



AMERICAN EEDSTAKT. 



with her feet with the quickness of a cat ; 

 and, after having had a piece of meat 

 snatched from my hand so suddenly that I 

 scarcely had a glimpse of the claws that 

 took it, I thought it most prudent to keep 

 my hands beyond her reach. She was 

 most fond of meat when first killed, but, if 

 hungry, she would not reject it after it had 

 become putrid. When a hen, or dove, was 

 killed and thrown into her cage, she would 

 suddenly pounce upon it, stiiking in her 

 claws with gi-eat force. She would then 

 stretch up her neck and look around, as if 

 exulting over the victory she had achieved. 

 Before eating a particle of the fowl, she 

 would take it to her roost, and holding it 

 with one foot, she would pick it, with her 

 beak, as cleanly as if it were to be cooked. 



The length of this specimen was 33 inch- 

 es, the spread of her wings 72, the folded 

 wing 24, tarsus 3.5, tibia, G.5, tail, con- 

 sisting of 12 feathers, 10.5. It weighed, 

 when killed, on the 19th of May, 1847, 

 10.5 pounds, the greater part of the weight 

 being made up of the muscles of the wings 

 and legs. 



Note. — The specimen, belonging to the 

 Museum of the University of Vermont, 

 which I have described in Part I, page GO, 

 without a name, I have satisfied myself to 

 be an old female Bald Eagle. 



THE OLIVE-SIDED KING-BIRD. 



Tyrannus cooperi. — Nuttall. 



Description. — General color above, dark 

 olive, becoming dusky brown on the head, 

 wings and tail. Chin, throat, belly, and 

 under tail coverts, white, tinged with light 

 greenish yellow. Secondaries edged with 

 white, and the wing coverts tipped with 

 gray, giving the appearance of two obscure 

 bars on the wings. Breast and sides of the 

 belly, brownish, with an irregular yellowish 

 white band from the throat down the breast 

 to the belly. Legs and feet black. Upper 

 mandible, blackish horn color ; lower, yel- 

 lowish, darker at the point. Irides hazel. 

 Bill stout and broad. Second quill longest, 

 first and third equal. Tail emarginate, 

 extends one inch beyond the folded wings. 

 Length, 6.5 inches ; spread, 12.5. 



History. — This species was first distin- 

 guished from the Wood Pewee, which it 

 much resembles, by William Cooper, in 

 1829, and was described and named, in 

 honor of its discoverer, by Mr. Nuttall. Its 

 range is from Texas to the 53d parallel of 

 latitude, and from New England to Oregon. 

 It is a rare bird in New England, but num- 

 bers of them spend the summer and rear 

 their young here. For the specimen, from 

 which the above description was made, I 

 was indebted to my friend C. S. Paine, who 



shot it in Randolph, in this state. The 

 nest of this King Bird is usually built in 

 the top of an evergreen, from 30 to 50 feet 

 from the ground, and resembles, somewhat, 

 that of the conmion King Bird. The eggs, 

 four in number, are of a yellowish cream- 

 color, thinly sprinkled with dark brown 

 and purple spots. A nest, found by Mr. 

 Paine, was on a horizontal branch of a tr.ll 

 hemlock , standing alone in a pasture, near 

 the border of woods. The nest, containing 

 three eggs, was composed of twigs, moss, 

 and a few blades of grass. It was very 

 flat, and slovenly put together. This bird 

 manifests much uneasiness and anger, 

 when its nest is approached, erecting its 

 crest, and becoming very clamorous. These 

 birds are known to breed, in the same local- 

 ity, several years in succession. 



TRAILL'S FLY-CATCHER. 

 Muscicapa traillii. — Aud. 



Description. — Color of the head and 

 body above, dark glossy olive green ; circle 

 round the eye and streak towards the bill, 

 pale yellow. Wings, dark hair brown ; 

 secondaries and wing coverts edged with 

 dull white, forming two bars across the 

 wings. Bill, blackish above, flesh-colored 

 beneath. Chin and throat yellowish white ; 

 breast, ashy brown ; belly, and under tail 

 coverts, pale sulphur yellow. Legs black. 

 Tail emarginate. Length, 5.75; spread 

 8.75. 



Hi.?tory. — This species bears a very 

 strong resemblance to the M. JIaviventris. 

 It is quite a common bird at some places 

 along the east side of the Green Mountains, 

 in Vermont, particularly along the second 

 branch of White River, in Bethel and Ran- 

 dolph, where, I am informed by my friend, 

 Paine, it rears its young in large numbers. 

 Its nest is usually built in a low bush, by 

 the side of a stream, from one to four feet 

 from the ground. The nest is conipo-sed, 

 outwardly, of wild grass and wool, and 

 lined with -v ery fine grass and weeds. It 

 is very snugly put together, and nearly 

 two inches deep. The eggs, usually three, 

 are of a yellowish white color, sparsely 

 sprinkled with light umber toward the 

 larger ehd. 



THE AMERICAN REDSTART. 



Muscicapa ruticilla. — Linnjeus. 



Descrii^tion.— Upper parts, bill, chin 

 and breast, black; sides of the breast, base 

 of the primaries aud of the tail feathers, 

 excepting the two middle ones, fine reddish 

 orange, sometimes approaching scarlet. 

 Belly white. Female and lyowng olive 



