174 TYRANNUS DOMINICENSIS. 



moment they strike, generally prove too much for feline courage, and I never saw a cat 

 that would await a second attack. 



The King Birds also appear to prefer certain plants for building materials, for exam- 

 ple in the interior they very frequently use the common everlasting, while on the sea shore 

 they choose the bleached eel-grass. The eggs are deposited early in June and the young 

 leave the nest by the middle of July. This is a time fall of anxiety for the parents as they 

 are extremely solicitous for the safety of their offspring. They manage to keep them to- 

 gether never permitting one to stray far from the others, then when danger appears they 

 Avill fly around them and by their cries induce them to move away. 



I once saw a family of four nestlings sitting together and, as I came near, the adult 

 birds tried to persuade them to fly by uttering loud cries, going a short distance in the 

 direction they wished them to take and returning. Their offspring were quite young and 

 did not appear to comprehend, for they did not move. As I drew nearer, the adults be- 

 came quite excited and darted frantically about, then finding that the objects of their care 

 did not understand what they wanted, one, evidently the female, flew swiftly against two 

 that were sitting together, causing them to take wing, when the remainder followed and 

 all moved away to a distant tree. 



Just after sunset, during the bright evenings of summer, the King Birds have a 

 singular habit of taking a rapid flight upward. After going some yards silently, they will 

 suddenly dart obliquely a few feet uttering a shrill twittering, then will mount higher, 

 only to repeat this eccentric movement again and again. Then having attained to a con- 

 siderable altitude, they will quietly descend into the gathering darkness. I never remember 

 observing this excepting during twilight and think that the same bird performs but once 

 during the evening. As the males only exhibit this peculiarity, it may be regarded as an 

 attempt at a song and, although not very melodious, is not unpleasant. There are prob- 

 ably few birds which are so useful as the King Birds for they are almost, if not wholly, 

 insectivorous and, aside from their habit of eating a few honey-bees, never do any harm. 

 They may be seen perched on a convenient fence-post or mullen-stalk, occasionally launch- 

 ing out at some passing insect and, with a decisive snap of their strong beaks, terminating 

 its career. The King Birds remain in New England until about the middle of September, 

 then depart southward. I think that they must migrate very rapidly, passing quite out 

 of the United States to winter in the West Indies. They enter Florida on their return 

 about the first of May, a few remaining to breed. 



TYRANNUS DOMINICENSIS. 



Gray King Bird. 

 Tyrannus Dominicensis RICH. List; 1837. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, very robust. Size, large. Sternum, stout. Feathers of the crest, somewhat lance-shaped. Bill, stoat, 

 longer than the head. Tail, somewhat forked. 



COLOR. Adult. Above, light-slaty inclined to brownish, with the top of the head darker. Wings and tail dark- 

 brown with all the feather? edged with sulphury-yellow. These edges are wider on the secondaries and tertiaries and both 



