33G NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



jiddicted to eatiiij^ bees equally with the KiiiLjhird ; but as this bird is known 

 to feed lar<fely on l>eiTies, and to feed its voun<j to some extent with the 

 same, the extent of such jnopensity may well be doubted. It is not so prone 

 to attack birds larger than itself as is the Kingbird, which Wilson charac- 

 terizes as cowardice, but which it would l)e more charitable to call prudence. 

 It is .said to be harsh, cruel, and vindictive to smaller birds and to weaker 

 individuals of its own sjiecies. 



In its Hight it moves with power, steadiness, and swiftness, and when in 

 pursuit of insects follows its ])rey with great zeal and })erseverance. When 

 it captures a large insect, it retires to its perch and beats it against the 

 limb. These birds are not in the least liret^arious. Thev occur in isolated 

 pairs, and ap])ear to have no interest or sympathy with others than those of 

 their own household. To each other, however, they are attentive and con- 

 siderate, and they are devoted in their solicitude for their young. 



Their usual call-note is a sharp disagreeable s([ueak, which, once known, is 

 easily recognized. Besides this it has a monotonous succession of squeak- 

 ing, harsh notes, only a little less unideasant. They raise but one brood in 

 a season, and remain together in a family group of from six to eight until 

 they leave, in the middle of September. 



During the early sunnner this species feeds chiefly upon insects of various 

 kinds, which it catches with great facility, skill, and assiduity ; afterwards, as 

 if from choice, it chiefly eats lipe hemes of various kinds of shrubs and 

 plants, among which those of tlie poke- weed and the huckleberry are most 

 noticeable. It nests altogether in hollows in trees, stum])s, or limbs. It 

 lines the bottoms of these hollows with a great variety of miscellaneous 

 materials, and in quantities that vary with the size and shape of the place to 

 be occupied. These beds are composed of loose hay, feathers, the liair of 

 various small quadrupeds, etc., while the exuvii3e of snakes are almost always 

 to be met with. 



The eggs, four, five, or six in number, are peculiar and noticeably varied 

 and beautiful in their style of markings, varying also somewhat in shape. 

 Generally they are nearly spherical, and equally obtuse at either end. 

 Occasionally they are an ol.dong oval, one end a very little more tapering 

 than the other. Their ground-color is a beautiful light buff, rather than a 

 cream-color, over which are waving lines, marblings, markings, and dots of a 

 brilliant purple, and others of a more obscure shading. The lines an' 

 variously distributed, generally running from one pole of the egg to the 

 other with striking effect, as if laid on with the delicate brush of an artist. 

 In some eggs the whole surface is so closely covered with these intercrossing 

 and waving lines, blending with the obscure cloudings of lilac, as nearly to 

 conceal the ground. Usually the buff* color is conspicuously apparent, and 

 sets off the purple lines with great effect. 



An oblong-oval ^^^ from Xew Jersey measures 1.10 inches in length by 

 .70 of an inch in breadth. A more nearly spherical egg from Florida meas- 



