TVllANNID.K — TIIK I'LYCATCllEHS. ,S10 



Eii;4liii)(l early in Miiy, and leave lor the Sontli in Sei>tenilHM'. Tliey nest 

 in May, .seJecLin.L; an uii])er braneli, nsually of an isolated true, and olten in 

 an expo.siul situation. Tlieir nesls an; lar;4;e, broad, and eonipanitively slial- 

 l(»\v, and coarsely, lliou,nli strongly, made of I'ude materials, sneli as t\vi<j(S, 

 withered plants, hits of rags, strings, etc. These are lined with line rootlets, 

 hor.se-hair, and line grasses. 



The Kingbird has no song, but, instead, utters an incessant monotonous 

 succession of twitterings, which vary in sharpness and hnidness with the 

 emotions that promjit them. 



The llight of the Kingbird when t»n the hunt for insects is peculiar and 

 characteristic. It flies slowly over the tieUl, with rapid vilu'ations of the 

 wings, in the manner of Hawks, and soars or .seems to lloat in the air in 

 a manner e([nally similar. At other times it Mies with great rapidity, and 

 dives about in the air in the manner of a Swallow. It also e.\hil>its great 

 power and rajiidity of llight when rushing forth to encounter a Hawk or 

 an Eagle. 



As they are known occasionally to phmge into the water, and, emerging 

 thence, to resume their seat on a high Imuich, to dry and dress their plumage, 

 it has been conjectured that they feed on small fish, but this is unsupported 

 by any jiositive evidence. 



Though the Kingbird usually builds in trees, it does not always select such 

 situations. In the summer of LSol, passing over a bridge near the village 

 of Aylesford, in Nova Scotia, I observed a Kingbird lly from a nest built on 

 the projecting end of one of the planks of which the bridge was made. So 

 remarkaldy exposed a jiosition, open to view, and on a level with and within 

 a few feet of a highway, nuist be quite unusual. 



The eggs of this bird are live, sometimes six, in number, and vary con- 

 sideralily in size. Their ground-color is white with a more or less decided 

 ro.seate tinge, beautifidly spotted with l)lotches and markings of purple, 

 brown, and red-brown. In some, these are disposed in a confluent crown 

 around the larger end ; in others they are irregularly distributed over the 

 entire egg. In length they vary from 1.05 to .8t] of an inch, and in breadth 

 from .72 to .70 of an inch. 



Tyrannus dominicensis, lUcii. 



ORAT KINGBIRD. 



Ti/rniiiiii,i (lomiiiiiriinis, Hiu.ssdN, (»is. II, 17t>(), 394, pi. xxxviii. tig. 2. — Riril. M.><t, 1S37. 

 — H.vnin, liirils X. .\iii. 1S.")S, ^~•l. Louiitu tiirnnnnn, viir. jS, ilniiiiiiirnisis, (i.Mr.i.is, 

 Syst. Xiit. I, 1788, ;i(l-2. MiixriiniM ilnmhiifnixiK, Afl). Orn. Hinj,'. II, 18:U, 392, jil. 

 xlvi. — 111. Hinls Am. I, 18Hi, 2ill, ))1. Iv. MiHH(irrliiis (hmiiiiirnsix, C.miams, ,Iour- 

 nnl fill' Oniitli. Ill, Nov. IS'i'i, 478. Tiinniiiiis ijri.vtix, Vm'.ii.i.ot, Ois. .\iii. Sc|it. I, 

 18(17, 7i), 111. xlvi. .SwAiNsiiN, Moil. Sliiikc's, (Jiiatt. Jour. X.X. 1S2i), 27ii. ~ Br. 

 Consp. IS'iO, 192 (Honaiiaitc iiiiiki's two .spcck'.s). — Hci,. List, 1802, :'.'iH. Tymunus 

 iniiltitiiiiis, Vll'.ll.l,. Dc I,u .Siif;iii, |il. xiv. 



