PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR. in 



finding food for them, and this the male bird does 

 not shirk ; but I fancy that there is to be seen a trace 

 of satisfaction in the free bird's movements when all 

 the humdrum details of domesticity are at an end. 

 The kingbird has a fancy for the open fields, and 

 does not forget them when confined to a tree at 

 nesting-time. It likes the broad outlook and the 

 easy life it may then lead, whether chasing beetles in 

 the sunshine or swinging on a bending mullein stalk. 

 I associate it, in the early autumn, with fragrant 

 balm and boneset, catnip, pennyroyal, and all the 

 cherished herbs that hung all winter from the old 

 kitchen ceiling. 



At this time, too, the kingbird is the apparent 

 leader of a host of young birds that have yet to 

 make their way in the world. It keeps to the 

 stakes, while the mixed company of younglings line 

 along the crooked rails as if awaiting orders. Orioles, 

 bluebirds, warblers, tanagers, and many sparrows 

 often rise from the fields or fences surprisingly like 

 a well-organized flock, and the kingbirds are the 

 apparent leaders. There is no quarrelling, but evi- 

 dence of a quiet content prevailing everywhere. 

 These mixed gatherings, the outpourings of the sum- 

 mer's nesting, are to me the earliest evidences of the 

 young birds leaving their nests. We see them 

 leave, and soon they are largely lost sight of ; but 

 in September they reassemble, not kinds by them- 

 selves, but associated as I have described. In a few 

 days they again disappear or separate, and the perma- 

 nently resident species take possession of the land 



