122 - KINGBIRD. 
the thirteen thousand known species are included in the 
single order Passeres. The North American members 
of this order are so alike in more important structural 
details that they are placed ‘in but two suborders, the 
suborder Clamatores, containing the so-called Songless 
Perching Birds, and the suborder Oscines, containing the 
Song Birds. The Flycatchers are the only members of 
the suborder Clamatores in Eastern North America. 
They differ from the Oscines, or true Song Birds, in 
always having ten fully developed primaries, in having 
the tarsus rounded behind as well as in front, and chiefly 
in the anatomy of the syrinx, or voice-producing organ. 
In the Oscimes this possesses four or five distinct pairs of 
intrinsic muscles, while in the Clamatores it has less than ~ 
four pairs of muscles, and is not so highly developed. 
Flycatchers are the Hawks of the insect world. Their 
position when resting is erect, and they are constantly on 
the watch for their prey, which is captured on the wing, 
with a dexterity Hawks may well envy. The bill is 
broad and flat and the gape large, as in other fly-catching 
birds. After darting for an insect, as a rule, they return 
to the same perch, a habit which betrays their family 
affinities, though it is occasionally practiced by some 
other birds. 
Among our Eastern Flycatchers the Kingbird un- 
doubtedly deserves first rank. In books he is sometimes 
Kingbird, called the Tyrant, but the name is a 
Tyrannus tyrannus. libel. The Kingbird is a fighter, but 
PlateXXX. he is not a bully, and gives battle only 
in a just cause. His particular enemy is the Crow, and 
during the nesting season each Kingbird evidently draws 
an imaginary circle about his home within which no 
Crow can venture unchallenged. From his lookout on 
the topmost branch of a neighboring tree the Kingbird 
darts forth at the trespasser, charging him with a spirit 
