294 



OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION. 



ORDER PASSERES PERCHING BIRDS. 



87. 



SUBORDER CLAMATORES. SONGLESS PERCHING BIRDS. 



FAMILY TYRANNID/E. TYRANT FLYCATCHERS. 



GENUS TYRANNUS CUVIER. 



Tyrannus tyrannus (LINN.). 

 Kingbird. 



An abundant summer resident. Its earliest recorded spring arrival is April i<^ 

 (1891), but its average date is about two weeks later. Few are to be seen after the 

 first of September, though individuals have been observed to linger until October 3. 



In this locality this species is apparently late in nesting, for with one exception 

 a complement of eggs has not been noted before June 20, but fresh eggs have been- 

 taken in July. A set of three secured on July 7, 1891, contained eggs varying from 

 fresh to three-eighths incubated. A large proportion of the nests found have been in 

 apple orchards. 



The measurements of two nests are as follows : 



The Kingbird is one of the earliest birds to be astir in the morning, the notebook 

 of the writer showing that this species was, on March 27, 1890, first heard at 3 130 A. M. 



That the Kingbird possesses remarkably acute vision may be inferred from the 

 following circumstance. On June 5, 1892, while the writer was strolling along the 

 railfoad track, which is here situated near the stream of the Killbuck, a Kingbird was 

 seen to start from a telegraph pole and fly swiftly in a direct line to capture an insect 

 so small as to be invisible to the human eyes only twenty-five feet away, yet by actual 

 measurement the distance from which this bird had espied its victim was one hundred 

 and fifty feet. 



This species was observed feeding upon berries of the dogwood (Cornus florida}, 

 on July 31, 1892. 



GENUS MYIARCHUS CABANIS. 



88. Myiarchus crinitus (LINN.). 

 Crested Flycatcher. 



A tolerably common summer resident; much more numerous in the spring. It 

 arrives usually between the first and the tenth of May, but the earliest date is April 24 

 (1892). Though not common after the first of September, it has been observed as late 

 as October 2. While it is found during the spring chiefly in the woodlands, it appears 

 to resort principally to orchards for the purpose of breeding. 



