—28— 



KINGBIRD, Tyrannus iyr annus (Linn.) 



The kingbird is common as a summer resident in the locali- 

 ties mentioned in these notes. It is seen most numerously 

 along the margins of the lake, in the willows whose bases are 

 submerged by the back water; there it is noisy and ubiquitous, 

 exercising its sway over its claimed domains with its usual 

 pugnacious disposition, and rearing its broods in the low trees 

 of the lakeshore. Several families were noted along the mar- 

 gin of Daphnia Fond; and because of an unusual nesting site 

 selected by a pair of kingbirds along the shore of this pond, 

 this note is made. The nest was made in a cavity in a dead, de- 

 nuded tree, the cavity being broken open so that the nest 

 was exposed to view on one side, and the sitting bird easily 

 seen as she faced the entrance or front of the cavity. As she 

 sat thus with observant eyes for passing events, the male fre- 

 quently visited her with some dainty morsel for her refresh- 

 ment. The cavity was about eighteen feet from the ground. The 

 bare stem, from which the branches had been swept by fire, 

 resembled a pole in appearance. 



The kingbird in this region chooses sites much nearer the 

 ground and more exposed in situation than it does in more 

 eastern localities. On July 6, as we landed from the launch 

 that had carried us to the foot of Flathead Lake, it happened 

 that a nest of the kingbird containing young birds was in a 

 dwarf tree near our landing-place. A crowd of Indian lads as- 

 sembled to witness our landing, and some of them espied the 

 nest with its noisy young. It is needless to state that in a few 

 minutes the younglings had fallen victims to the heartless- 

 ness of the crowd, being pitched out upon the water and then 

 pelted with stones as they fluttered helplessly upon the ripples. 



The dwarf trees and bushes found generally along the 

 streams of the Flathead Reservation are commonly populated by 

 the kingbird, and most of the nests are so low that they can 

 be examined without climbing or reaching. In notes made 

 later in the Reservation we find a nest in a corner of 

 a rail fence, at a point about half the height of the fence; an- 

 other in a bush by a streamside not three feet from the ground; 

 such instances are the rule and not the exception. 



WESTERN NIGHTHAWK, Chordeiles virginianus henryi 



(Cass.) 



The western nighthawk is very common in the Flathead 



