KIN(iniRD. 66 



kingbirds aro made coiiHpicuoiiH by tho very plaititiosH of their 

 coMtumes. Above they are a blaukiHh ash, which Ih)c<>iiiuh darker on 

 the head and tail, the latter ending in a bar of white. Their color 

 below in white, tinged on tho breast with gray. Tho bill is depressed 

 and wide at the base. 



Their favorite nesting place is an orchard, or park, or open 

 pasture, and the nest is saddled on a horizontal limb or in a fork 

 made by two branches. It is a rather tlimsy structure of loosely 

 laid twigs and roots, though the interior is neatly lined with horse 

 hair and feathers. The eggs, four or five in number, are rich 

 creamy white, boldly streaked and spotted with bntwn and lilac. 



The kingbird occurs in numbers all over these Eastern Provinces, 

 reaching the southern border before the middle of May, and leaving 

 the northern limit of its distribution about tho first of September. 



It is a true flycatcher — tho typo species of the whole flycatcher 

 family — and its food consists largely of winged insects which are 

 captured in the air. A familiar sight on a summer's day is a king, 

 bird on a garden fence or wayside branch watching for the passing 

 fly, upon which the bird darts with skilful flight, catching its prey 

 upon the wing after tho manner of a swallow, though with less 

 grace. The fly secured, the bird wheels back to its perch to repeat 

 the watching and the darting, each capture being tallied by a sharp 

 snap of the bill. 



The kingbird is changed with fierce pugnacity and with churlishly 

 tyrannizing over weaker birds, but tho charge is not well founded. 

 He is brave and daring above all other birds, and is a fighter, 

 through and through. But he fights only when there is something to 

 fight for — a mate to be won, an insult to be avenged, or a home to be 

 defended — and what brave fellow would not fight upon such 

 occasions. He claims as his kingdom the grove wherein his queen- 

 mate and he rear their fighting brood, and he takes under his protec- 

 tion all the smaller birds who dwell therein — the redstarts and the 

 vireos in the next tree, the yellow warblers in the hedge-row, 

 and the juncos who have hid their nest in the grass yonder. Tliose 

 are his friends and he elects himself their champion, making tlieir 

 quarrels his own, and shielding them with his valor. But he brooks 

 Dio iivals ; permits no interference in his domestic affairs ; and 



