236 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Of the type specimens, No. 25574 (PL 1, Fig. 12), from a set of six eggs, 

 Ralph collection, was taken near Brownsville, Texas, on April 20, 1892, and 

 ineasnres a trifle above the average size, while No. 26292 (PI. 1, Fig. 13), from 

 a set of foiir eggs, taken Jnne.5, 1893, near Rockport, Aransas Connty, Texas, 

 by Mr. H. P. Attwater, represents one of the least marked and smallest speci- 

 mens in the series. 



87. Tyrannus tyrannus (Linn^us). 



KINGBIRD. 



Lanius tyrannus Linn.eus, Systema NaturiB, ed. 10, I, 1758, 94. 

 Tyrannus tyrannus Jordan, Manual-of Vertebrates, eel. 4, 1884, 96. 

 (B 124, C 242, R 304, 368, U 444.) 



Geographical range: Temperate North America, chiefly east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains; rarer and more locally distributed westward, in portions of Utah, Idaho, Nevada, 

 eastern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia; north in the 

 eastern British Provinces to about latitude 50°, and from Manitoba westward to about 

 latitude 57° north; south in winter through central and western South America to Bolivia, 

 the Island of Cuba, and the Bahamas. 



The Kingbird, also called "Bee Bird" and "Bee Martin," is a common 

 summer resident, and breeds throughout all of our Eastern and Middle States, 

 and the southern portions of the Dominion of Canada, from Nova Scotia and 

 adjacent regions, south of alDout latitude 50°, and west to about longitude 90°, 

 whence it ranges north through Manitoba and Saskatchewan into Athabasca, 

 beyond latitude 57°. In the South it breeds from Florida and the Gulf Coast 

 to eastern Texas, but not nearly as commonly as in the Middle and Northern 

 States. Thence it ranges in a northwesterly direction through the Indian 

 Territory and Kansas to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, where it 

 is rarely found at higher altitudes than 7,000 feet. It enters through some of 

 the lower passes of these mountains into Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, .Wash- 

 ington, and British Columbia, where in certain localities it is not uncommon. I 

 believe it has not yet been observed in northwestern Texas, New Mexico, or 

 Arizona; and in California it can only be considered as a straggler. While a 

 few winter in southern Florida and the Gulf Coast, the bulk of these birds 

 migrate south into Central America, and some even into Bolivia, as well as to 

 the Island of Cuba and the Bahamas. They leave the northern portions of their 

 range about the middle of August, and linger in the south for some weeks 

 before passing our borders. 



Few of our birds are better known throughout the United States than the 

 Kingbird. Bold and fearless in character, yet tame and confiding in man, often 

 preferring to live in close proximity to dwellings, in gardens and orchards, 

 they are prime favorites with the majority of our farming population, and they 

 well deserve their fullest protection. Few birds are more useful to the farmer; 

 their reputation for pugnacity and reckless courage is so well established that 



