THE KINGBIRD. 237 



it is almost, needless to dwell on it, as it is well known that they Avill boldly 

 attack and drive off the largest of our Raptores, should one venture too near to 

 their chosen nesting sites. Where a pair or more of these birds make their 

 home in the vicinity of a farmhouse, the poultry yard is not likely to suffer 

 much through feathered marauders at least; they are a perfect terror to all 

 hawks, instantly darting at and rising above them, alighting on their shoulders or 

 necks, and picking away at them most unmercifully until they are only too 

 willing to beat a hasty retreat. The male is seemingly always on the lookout 

 from his perch on the top branches of a tree or post for such enemies, and no 

 matter how large they may be, a pair of Kingbirds is more than a match for 

 any of them, our larger Falcons and Eagles not excepted. Crows and Blue 

 Jays seem to be especially obnoxious to them, and instances are on record 

 where they have done them material injury. 



From the foregoing it. must not be assumed that our Kingbirds are generally 

 quarrelsome and that they bully all other birds, as this is by no means the case. 

 As a rule they live in perfect harmony with all their smaller relatives, and some 

 of the latter's nests are not infrequently placed within a few feet of one of theirs, 

 in the same tree, like that of the Orchard Oriole, for instance ; and they are not 

 content with protecting their own young and eggs, but watch over those of their 

 neighbors as well. The only species I have observed as being on bad terms 

 with the Kingbird is our little Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which is well 

 known to be, if possible, even more aggressive and pugnacious than the former, 

 and it Avould seem as if, small though lie may be, he is a match for the average 

 Kingbird, and probably always the aggressor. I have on two occasions seen a 

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird put the other to flight. 



They arrive in our Southern States from their winter homes about the first 

 two weeks in April, and move gradually northward, generally making their 

 appearance in the more northern States about the middle of May. The return 

 migration from the far north commences in the beginning of August, and from 

 our Northern States usually in the latter part of this month. While by no 

 means uncommon in many localities west of the Rocky Mountains, here this 

 species is rather irregularly distributed, and while fairly abundant in certain 

 sections, it is entirely absent in others which seem equally well adapted to it. 

 I found the Kingbird rather common on the Malheur and John Day rivers, in 

 Grant County, Oregon, while in closely adjacent sections (as in the vicinity of 

 Camp Harney) I failed to observe a single specimen. I also met with it on 

 Snake River, near old Fort Boise, Idaho. It appears to me to be gradually 

 extending its range westward, and in Washington and southern British. Columbia 

 it already reaches the Pacific coast in places. 



The Kingbirds are rather noisy on their first arrival in the spring, and give 

 free vent to their exuberance of spirits; they are very restless at this time, now 

 hovering or fluttering slowly from one tree to another, or from fence post to 

 fence post, the male following his mate with a peculiar, quivering movement of 

 the wings and expanded tail, uttering at the same time a succession of shrill, 



