110 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



For the Nezo UngtanU Fanner. 



THE BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND— No. 10. 



FLYCATCIIKRS. 



King Bird, or Tyrant Flycatcher — Crested Flycatcher — Olive- 

 sideil Flycatcher — Phtebe, or Pewee Flycatcher — Wood Pe- 

 wee — Small Pewee. 



Passing over several of the sub-families of 

 Laniadcc unrepresented in our fauna, we arrive 

 at the last and aberrant form of the ^roup, the 

 Tijraimincv, or Tyrant Flycatchers, embracing our 

 New England Flycatchers ; indeed, this section 

 being much allied to Muscicapklce, or the true 

 Flycatchers of the Eastern continent. We pos- 

 sess six species of T//rannina', all of which are 

 migratory, spending the winter in warmer lati- 

 tudes far to the south, a few even in tropical 

 America, coming to us in spring to pass the sum- 

 mer, and rear their young in our borders. They 

 may be considered strictly insectivorous, rarely 

 partaking of other food than living insects, and 

 are consequently highly beneficial to the interests 

 of the agriculturists, and are eminently worthy 

 of protection. They are rather tyrannical in their 

 dispositions towards other birds, and are gener- 

 ally quite destitute of song, yet their peculiar 

 notes are often in perfect harmony with their sur- 

 roundings, and give additional interest to our sol- 

 itary woods, fields and orchards. 



The King Bird, or Tyrant Flycatcher, [Tj/- 

 ranmis intrepidus, Vieill. ; Mnscicapa tyramms 

 of Wilson ; Lanius tyrannus of Linnrcus,) is a 

 common and well known species in New Eng- 

 land, and throughout the greater part of the Unit- 

 ed States, in the Southern States bearing the name 

 of Field Martin. They come to us in May, from 

 the remote tropical regions of the continent, and 

 are said to proceed as far northward as the inte- 

 rior of Canada. The illustrious Wilson thus fine- 

 ly describes the arrival of this bird in spring, in 

 his poetical epitome of the King Bird's history: 



"Far in the south where vast JIaraprnon flows, 



And boundless forests unknown wilds enclose ; 



Vine-tangled shores, and suffocating woods, 



Parched up with heat or drowned with pouring floods ; 



Where each extreme alternately prevails. 



And Nature sad their ravages bewails ; 



Lo ! high in air, above those trackless wastes 



With spring's return the King I^.ird hither hastes ; 



Coasts the famed Gulf*, anl, from his height, explores 



Its thousand streams, iis long indented shores, 



Its plains immense, wide opening on the day, 



Its lakes and isles, where feathered millions play. 



All tempt not him ; till, gazing from on high, 



CoLnilBlA'S regions wide before him lie; 



There end his wanderings and his wish to roam, 



Here lie his native woods, his (ields, his home; 



Down, circling, he descends, from azure heights. 



And on a full-blown isassafras alights. 



Fatigued and silent, for a while he views 



His old (requentcd haunts, ami shades recluse ; 



Sees brothers, comrades, every hour arrive — 



Hears, hummin;^ round, the tenants of the hive : 



Love fires his breast ; he wooes, and soon is blest ; 



And in the blooming orchard builds his nest." 



* Of Mexico. 



Audubon remarks the arrival of the King Bird 

 in Louisiana about the middle of March ; Wil- | 

 son speaks of his arrival in Pennsylvania about 

 the 2Uth of April ; while in New England he is 

 seldom seen before the middle of May, generally 

 appearing at the time the orchards are opening 

 their fragrant blossoms. For a few days he ap- 

 pears fatigued, silent and melancholy, but soon 

 his harsh, tremulous notes are heard, as he pur- 

 sues on quickening wing the passing insects, or 

 hovers over his natal haunts. In a few days he 



selects his mate, and the happy pair at once com- 

 mence constructing a nest in an apple tree of the 

 orchard, or in some isolated tree of the field or 

 pasture, rarely in hedges or along the borders of 

 woods. The peculiar habits and remarkable traits 

 of character exhibited by this noble bird are well 

 known to all dwellers in the country ; and the 

 observing farmer well knov/s that he can secure 

 no better protection against the Crows for his 

 young corn, than to have a pair of these birds 

 take up their residence in the vicinity of his corn- 

 field. Full of affection for his mate and young, 

 as soon as the period of incubation commences, 

 he gallantly drives off every feathered intruder, 

 evincing the greatest bravery in his attacks upon 

 the Eagle, and all the large birds of prey ; the 

 Crow seeks to shun his attack, and the plunder- 

 ing Blue Jay he drives disgraced and screaming 

 from the orchard. By this bird, the poultry are 

 in no small measure protected from the attacks 

 of Hawks ; but the chief benefits derived from 

 this bird, are from its ceaseless havoc among the 

 destroying insect tribes, which constitute its al- 

 most sole diet till towards autumn, when it is va- 

 ried occasionally with a few wild fruits. But the 

 noble King Bird is sometimes guilty of snatch- 

 ing up a hapless bee, with which to vary his fare, 

 and barbarous, inconsiderate humanity at once 

 dooms him to bo shot ! his good deeds are noth- 

 ing. Every American naturalist worthy the name 

 has eloquently plead in his behalf, yet for his triv- 

 ial trespass many avaricious bee-keepers, over- 

 looking the general good, persist in his destruc- 

 tion. 



The King Bird often rears two broods of young 

 in a season, but generally retires southward early 

 in September. His hifcits are so Avell known, and 

 his residence so general in New England that fur- 

 ther remarks are perhaps unnecessary. 



The King Bird is eight inches in length, and 

 fourteen inches in alar extent. Color above, 

 dusky ash, the head and tail quite black, and the 

 latter tipped with white ; beneath white, approach- 

 ing ash on the breast. On the crown of the head 

 is a spot of deep scarlet, which is seldom ob- 

 served, unless the exterior, dusky feathers are 

 parted with the hand. 



The Great-Crested Flycatcher, ( Tyrannn& 

 crinitii.9, Swain.,) is so rare a bird in New Eng- 

 land that but few, if any, other than the practical 

 ornithologists, are aware of its existence. Nut- 

 tall described it as extremely rare in all parts of 

 New England, but speaks of once meeting with 

 a pair of these birds in Acton, in this State, in 

 the month of July, that had reared a brood of 

 young in that vicinity. A single individual of 

 this species was observed by the writer, in Sep- 

 tember of the ])resent year, in this vicinity. Far- 

 ther south it is more commonly observed. Its 

 habits are described as similar to those of the 

 bird above described, though rather more con- 

 fined to the woods, yet making frequent excur- 

 sions to the orchard, and it is exceedingly dexter- 

 ous at its profession, seizing insects on the wing. 

 It builds its nest in the deserted hole of a Blue 

 Bird or Woodpecker, according to Wilson, of 

 loose hay, feathers, hair, and the east skins of 

 snakes ; the eggs are four in number, dull cream- 

 colored, thickly pencilled with purple lines. 



This species is eight and one-half inches in 

 length, and thirteen in alar extent. Upper pai-ts. 



