234 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



pairs may frequently breed close to each other, apparently in perfect harmony. 

 It rarely molests or chases birds which are smaller than itself, but boldly 

 attacks Hawks, Ravens, Ooavs, Jays, and other marauders with the utmost 

 fury, when they come too close to its nesting site. 



The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is rather restless, and rarely remains in one 

 place for any length of time. It is constantly on the lookout for passing insects, 

 nearly all of which are caught on the wing and carried to some perch, where 

 they are beaten into suitable pieces and swallowed at leisure. Its food con- 

 sists principally of moths, butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, and cotton 

 worms; while berries of various kinds are also eaten to some extent. Consid- 

 ered from an economic point of view, they are among our most useful birds, 

 and, as they are rarely molested, they seem to be steadily increasing in numbers, 

 being far more common in many parts of Texas today than they were twenty 

 years ago. They do not begin housekeeping at once after their arrival from 

 their winter quarters in Central America, but dally for several weeks in courting 

 and love-making and having a good time generally before they begin their more 

 serious duties of reproduction. They are not hard to please in the selection of 

 a suitable nesting site, and almost any tree standing by itself is preferred to a 

 more secluded situation 



Mr. H. P. Attwater, of Aransas County, Texas, writes me as follows on this 

 subject: "The bold, fearless character of the Scissor-tail is shown in the manner 

 in which he builds his nest, which is a bulky structure, generally placed on a 

 horizontal limb in an exposed position, and his careless disposition is also well 

 exemplified by his choosing for materials anything that comes handy, frequently 

 leaving long pieces hanging from the nest. I have found nests lined with 

 feathers, and others with horse and cow manure." 



They nest by preference in mesquite trees, less frequently in live and post 

 oaks, the thorny hackberry or granjeno (Celtis pallida), the huisache {Acacia 

 farnesiand), honey locust, mulberry, pecan, and the magnolia, as well as in vari- 

 ous small, thorny shrubs. Their nests are placed at various distances of 5 to 

 40 feet from the ground, but on an average not over 15 feet, and often in very 

 exposed situations, where they can readily be seen. Occasionally, when placed 

 in trees whose limbs are well covered with long streamers of the gray Spanish 

 moss, or in shrubs overrun with vines, they are rather more difficult to discover. 

 As these birds are rarely molested, they become quite tame, and nest not infre- 

 quently in gardens and in close proximity to the ranches. 



Nests of this species from different localities vary greatly in size and mate- 

 rials from which constructed. The base and sides of the nest are usually 

 composed of small twigs or rootlets, cotton and weed stems (those of a low 

 floccose, woolly annual, Evax prolifera and JEvax miilticaulis, the former growing 

 on dry and the latter on low ground, being nearly always present); in some 

 sections the gray Spanish moss forms the bulk of the nest, in others raw cotton, 

 and again sheep's wool; while rags, hair, twine, feathers, bits of paper, dry 

 grass, and even seaweeds may be incorporated in the mass. One that I consider 



