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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Tyr annus tyrannus (Linnaeus) 

 Kingbird 



Plate 6- 



Lanius tyrannus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. 1:94 

 Tyrannus intrepid us DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 117, fig. 72 

 Tyrannus tyrannus A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 208. No. 444 



tyrannus, Lat., a tyrant 



Description. Upper parts grayish slate color; the wing feathers 



Young kingbirds 



Photo by James H. Miller 



blackish; tail black, tipped with white; under parts white, a grayish tinge on 

 the sides of breast; top of the head blackish concealing a brilliant orange 

 patch which flashes into view when the bird is excited; bill blackish. 



Length 8.40-8.75 inches; extent 14-15; wing 4.65; tail 3.56; bill .60. 



The slaty upper parts of this bird, his white throat and under parts, 

 blackish tail with sharp white tip, combined with his ordinary quivering 

 and soaring flight low over the fields, with tail spread, make him one of 

 the easiest of our common birds for the amateur to recognize. 



