244 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



ingly. I have been quoted in the "History of North American Birds, 1874" 

 (Vol. II, p. 320), as having taken this subspecies near Tucson, Arizona; this is 

 evidently a mistake, as I can not find any reference to such a capture among my 

 notes on Arizona birds. 



For what little we know about Couch's Kingbird we are indebted to Mr. 

 George B. Sennett, who first met with it on May 8, 1877, at Lomita Ranch, near 

 Hidalgo, Texas. He says: "At this point is the finest grove of ebonies (Acacia 

 flex i caul is) I saw on the river. On the hillside, back of the buildings, they over- 

 look the large resaca, then filled with tasseled corn. It was the tops of these 

 grand old trees that these Flycatchers loved, and so persistent were they in 

 staying-there that I thought they were going to settle in the neighborhood for 

 the season. There was a company of some six or eight scattered about. I did 

 not find them shy, for after our firing they would almost immediately return to 

 the same trees. They were readily distinguishable from Tyrannus carolinensis, 

 which were shot in their company; their greater size and bright yellow under 

 parts can be seen at gunshot range." 1 



A.mest taken by one of Mr. Sennett's collectors in 1881 is described by him 

 as follows: "The nest was situated some 20 feet from the ground, on a small 

 lateral branch of a large elm, in a fine grove not far from the houses of the 

 ranch. It is composed of small elm twigs, with a little Spanish moss and a few 

 branchlets and leaves of the growing elm intermixed. The sides of the nest are 

 lined with fine rootlets; the bottom with the black, hair-like heart of the Spanish 

 moss. The outside diameter is 6 inches and the depth 2 inches. The inside 

 diameter is 3 inches and the depth 1.25 inches." 2 



There is as yet but little known about the general habits, food, and call 

 notes of this subspecies; but it is presumable that they do not differ very mate- 

 railly from those of the other members of this family. The number of eggs 

 varies from three to four, and the nests appear generally to be placed near the 

 end of a horizontal limb, on a good-sized tree, at no very great distance from the 

 ground, and preferably near water. 



All the eggs of this subspecies in the United States National Museum 

 collection were taken in the vicinity of Brownsville, Texas, where these birds 

 usually commence nesting during the first two weeks in May. 



The ground color of the eggs is a delicate creamy pink, and they are mod- 

 erately well blotched and spotted with chocolate, claret brown, heliotrope purple, 

 and lavender. These markings are, in some instances, scattered pretty evenly 

 over the entire surface of the egg; in others they are mainly confined to the 

 larger end. They are readily distinguishable from the eggs of the balance of 

 our Kingbirds by their peculiar ground color, while their markings are very 

 similar to those found on the eggs of the other species of this family. The shell 

 is close-grained and rather strong, and in shape the eggs are generally ovate or 

 elongate ovate. 



1 Bulletin of the U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey, 1878, Vol. IV, No. 1, p. 31. 

 - The Auk, Vol. I, 1884, p. 93. 



