144 DA VET'S PRIMER 



THE KINGBIRD. 



The kingbird is essentially a lover of the orchard. 

 It breeds in the States east of the Rocky Mountains, and 

 less commonly in the Great Basin and on the Pacific 

 coast. Its antipathy for hawks and crows is well 

 known, and for this reason a family of kingbirds is a 

 desirable adjunct to a poultry yard. On one occasion 

 within the knowledge of the writer a hawk which at- 

 tacked a brood of young turkeys was pounced upon and 

 so severely buffeted by a pair of kingbirds, whose nest 

 was near by, that the would-be robber w r as glad to 

 escape without his prey. Song birds that nest near 

 the kingbird are similarly protected. 



In its food habits the kingbird is largely insectivorous. 

 It is a true flycatcher by nature, and takes on the wing 

 a large part of its food. It does not, however, confine 

 itself to this method of hunting, but picks up some in- 

 sects from trees and weeds, and even descends to the 

 ground in search of myriapods or thousand legs. The 

 chief complaint against the species is that it preys 

 largely upon honeybees; and this charge is made by 

 both professional bee keepers and others. One bee 

 raiser in Iowa, suspecting the kingbirds of feeding 

 upon his bees, shot a number near his hives ; but when 

 the stomachs of the birds were examined by an expert 

 entomologist, not a trace of honeybees could be found. 



An examination of 420 stomachs, collected in 

 various parts of the country, was made by the Bio- 

 logical Survey, but only 14 were found to contain 



