CLASS II. A.YES: ORDER 2. PASSERES, 



125 



THE SPOON-BILL TYRANT FLY-CATCHER. 



THE TYRANNIN^ OR TYRANT FLY-CATCHERS. 



These are American birds, differing little from the true fly-catcliers, except that they liave the 

 tip of the bill more strongly hooked ; they also resemble the shrikes a good deal in their habits, 

 preying not only upon insects and berries, but some of them also upon small vertebrate animals, 

 including even fishes. Two species are well known in the United States. 



6^enM5 TYRANNUS : — Tyranmts. — The best known species is the Kingbird, T. intrepidtis, 

 eight inches long, of a slaty ash-color above and white beneath ; on the head is a tuft of yellow 

 feathers, capable of being erected into a crest, which circumstance, as well as the despotic author- 

 ity he exercises over other birds, has given him the names of KhKjhird and Tyrant Fly-Catcher. 

 It arrives in small parties in the United States in the month of April; they then soon pair and 

 begin to build their nests. Before very quiet, the male now becomes exceedingly quarrelsome ; 

 and such is his fierceness, that hawks and crows, the bald eagle, and even the great black eagle, 

 dread a rencounter with the dauntless little champion. The kingbird feeds on insects, generally 

 sitting on the tops of fences, posts, or mullein-stalks, till opportunity offers, when he darts upon 

 his prey with infallible aim. 



The Crested Tyrant, T. crinitus, is somewhat larger 

 than the kingbird, and is found in the United States, from 

 Texas northward ; the color is greenish-olive above, and 

 sulphur-yellow beneath ; the throat and upper part of 

 the breast ash-color ; on the head, the dark brown feathers 

 form a sort of crest. 



The Spoon-bill Tyrant, ZamMS sulphuratus of Gmelin, 

 found in Brazil, has a large, thick bill, a large head, the 

 upper parts of the body a reddish-brown, the breast yel- 

 low, on the top of the head a yellow crest. It is found in 

 Brazil, feeds on butterflies, and is popularly called Bem- 

 te-veo, from its habitual cry. 



' THE ALECTRURIN^ OR COCK-TAILS. 



In these birds the bill is broad and depressed at the 

 base, convex toward the point, which is more or less 

 hooked; the nostrils are rounded and exposed; the tail 

 is elongated, compressed, and capable of being raised in a 

 very singular manner, which has caused these birds to be 

 THE TRicoLORED ALECTRUEtig. comparcd to Little Cocks, and the scientific name of 



Alectrurus applied to the typical genus may, perhaps, be translated Cock-tail. The tarsi are slender, 



