The Kingbird 323 



remained for two or three minutes, pulling and tugging at the rag. After 

 getting it placed to its satisfaction, it flew away. We had discovered a 

 Kingbird in the act of building its nest, and, so far as we could observe, 

 had actually seen it bring the very first piece of material with which to 

 make it. 



Day after day, in the early morning, we would slip out to see how the 

 work was progressing. The birds seemed to work at their nest-building, 

 chiefly, in the early morning ; still, it must be confessed we did not watch 

 very closely at other times of the day, and the birds may have continued 

 their efforts at various periods until the sun went 

 down. In making the nest, the birds used old weed- 

 stalks, grass, pieces of paper, and rootlets ; and it took 

 them many days to complete the task. Although it would have been easy 

 to climb up to the nest, we did not do so. The little girl, who belongs to 

 a Junior Audubon Society, told me it was a rather bad practice for chil- 

 dren to peep into every nest they found, so we never learned how many 

 eggs were laid in it. 



Later, however, we saw three young sitting on the limbs near the nest, 

 where both the father and the mother often fed them. The tree stood not 

 more than twenty feet from the veranda of a summer club-house, where 

 many came three times a day for their meals. Children and dogs romped 

 about the place or sat on the bench under the tree, but the Kingbirds never 

 seemed frightened. 



If birds are undisturbed by their human neighbors they soon learn that 

 no one means to harm them, and often become very tame. We all have 

 seen many photographs of Chickadees, Bluebirds, and other small birds, 

 that have become so tame that they would alight on the shoulders or hat 

 of a man or woman who was kind to them. 



Hidden by the dark feathers on the top of its head is a bright orange- 

 red spot. The Kingbird can open the feathers of its crown whenever it 

 wishes to, in such a way as to show this bright spot. It has been thought 

 by some people that the Kingbird does this to deceive 

 insects into thinking that they have discovered a flower The Kingbird's 

 where honey may be gathered. If true, this would be 

 very nice for the Kingbird, and no doubt would help it very much in 

 getting a living. Perhaps some member of a Junior Audubon Class, by 

 watching one of these birds, will discover whether or not this supposition 

 is true. 



If one watches the Kingbird very long, he will notice that most of its 

 time seems to be occupied with hunting food. Birds have different ways 

 of getting the necessary things to eat. Thus, some wild Ducks dabble in 

 the mud ; Woodpeckers find food by searching crevices in the bark and 

 wood of a tree ; Kingfishers dart into the waters of lakes and rivers to cap- 

 ture small fish ; and Herons wade in shallow water and spear prey with 

 their long bills. The Kingbird uses none of these methods. Standing on 

 the topmost branch of some small tree, telegraph-pole, or barbed-wire 



