i8o 



The Fork-Tailed Flycatcher. 



As the Flycatchers are dependent alto- 

 gether upon insect food they are in these 

 latitudes always migratory, disappearing 

 early in the autumn and returning with the 

 first warm weather of spring. The Pewee, 

 so common about every farmhouse, is the 

 first of the Flycatchers to make its appear- 

 ance, often reaching Connecticut by the 

 middle of March, when the snow is on the 

 ground. They have no powers of song, 

 their calls being for the most part limited to 

 a harsh scream or twitter, yet one species 

 has a very soft and plaintive note. 



The sexes are usually alike in color, 

 though in one species found along our 

 southwestern border, the male is brilliantly 

 colored while the female is quite dull. 



Although the Tyrant Flycatchers are as a 

 rule plain and sober in the colors of their 

 plumage, there are some exceptions to this 

 rule, among which may be noted the so- 

 called " bird of paradise " of Texas, a bird 

 which in shape and size resembles the Fork- 

 tailed Flycatcher, but which is much more 

 beautiful in color. It has the same long, 

 forked tail, which is sometimes ten inches 

 long, and is hoary gray above and pure 

 white beneath, while the flanks are washed 

 with delicate salmon pink, which extends 

 to the lower tail coverts and the tail feathers 

 themselves. The crown patch and the 

 feathers at the insertion of the wings are 

 bright scarlet. This brilliant bird is com- 

 mon in Texas and to the southward in 

 Mexico and in Central America. 



So much may be said by way of intro- 

 duction to a very interesting group of birds 

 of which some examples must be familiar 

 to every one of us, for to it belongs the 

 kingbird, famed for his courage, the phoebe, 

 builder of mud nests in caves, under rock 

 ledge and in barns, and the smaller Fly- 

 catchers, who dwell more in the woods, and 

 so are less well known to those who do not 



make a study of our birds. Miss Florence 

 A. Merriam, in her series of charming 

 sketches, entitled " Fifty Common Birds 

 and How to Know Them," published in 

 earlier numbers of this magazine, has 

 brought out many of the characteristic habits 

 of the Tyrannidcv. 



The Fork-tailed Flycatcher reminds us in 

 many of its habits of our own well-known 

 kingbird. Like it, and, indeed, like all 

 members of this group, it is very courageous, 

 and does not hesitate to attack birds of prey 

 which may venture to approach its nest. In 

 its flight when in pursuit of insects it uses 

 its long tail as a rudder to aid it in making 

 quick turns, and like other Flycatchers it 

 frequently vibrates the tail when it alights. 



Although its food consists chiefly of in- 

 sects, it does not altogether disdain fruits 

 and berries, but like the kingbird seems to 

 enjoy a varied fare. The stomach of the 

 specimen secured by Bonaparte in New 

 Jersey was found to be full of pone berries. 



The actual bulk of the Fork-Tailed Fly- 

 catcher is only about that of the kingbird, 

 but the great length of its tail feathers 

 make its measurements very different. It is 

 fourteen and a quarter inches long, and has 

 a spread of wings of fourteen inches. The 

 outer tail feathers are sometimes ten inches 

 long, while the middle ones measure but two 

 and a half. The head and cheeks are black, 

 the feathers of the crown being yellow at 

 the base, but this patch is concealed, except 

 when the crest is erected. The back is 

 ashy gray, becoming darker toward the 

 rump. The wings are blackish brown, the 

 feathers being margined with gray, and the 

 tail is of the same color, except the outer 

 web of the long feather on each side, which 

 for half its length from the body is white. 

 The under parts are white, the bill and feet 

 black, and the eye brown. The male and 

 female are alike in plumage. 



