THE KINGBIRD. 315 



movements are most sprightly and graceful. Its nest is 

 built wholly of what appears to be a light-green hanging 

 moss, but it is in reality a lichen (usnea), common to many 

 trees of the north. The form is sometimes globular, with 

 an entrance on the side, sometimes open at the top, and 

 appearing like a common bunch of the material, in its native 

 position on the tree. It is unlike the nest of any other bird, 

 and exceedingly difficult to find. The eggs, often not more 

 than 3, and laid early in June, are some .65 x .50, white, 

 specked and spotted with reddish-brown and lilac, particu- 

 larly around the large end. Parula's song is by no means 

 as interesting as its nest. Though chiming in well with the 

 many voices of spring, considered apart, it is scarcely more 

 than a prolonged and pleasing squeak. 



Breeding in the Southern and Middle States, Parula 

 americana becomes more common in New England, and 

 extends to Nova Scotia, and west to the Missouri. Southern 

 Florida is its northernmost abode in winter. 



THE KINGBIRD. 



As I return home across the fields I observe a pair of 

 Kingbirds (Tyrannus carolinensis] perched on a fence and 

 uttering a series of notes, tsip-tsip-tsip-tseep-tseep, tsi-tsi-tsee, tsi- 

 tsi-tsee, tsi-tsi, tsee-tsee, the whole being so modulated as to sound 

 more like a song than anything I ever heard from this bird 

 before. Eight inches long, blackish-gray above, wings and 

 tail nearly black, under parts and edge of the tail white, a 

 flame-colored spot under the tips of the feathers on the 

 crown, the male a little darker than the female -this bird 

 is almost as well known as the Robin or Bluebird. Most 

 noticeable of all are his pugnacious habits. Occupying 

 some low perch in the garden or orchard, or alighted on the 

 fence by the meadow, pasture or roadside, his big head 



