47° Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



a nest in a natural cavity of a large dead maple, the site being 

 almost over a trail through the clearing. It is interesting to note 

 that as soon as the young could fly, the family left that particular 

 locality, patronized the Burn more freely and went ranging through- 

 out the open areas where tall denuded trees gave them vantage 

 points in foraging over the clearings. Regarding the limited num- 

 bers of this flycatcher in a neighborhood, it may be suggested that 

 their noisy habits and wide range of feeding in late summer would 

 make them seem abundant though only one family were living there. 



Kingbird. Tyranuus tyrannus (Linn.) 



Length 8.5. Back gray ; head blackish ; the crown with a concealed spot 

 of orange; tail black, tipped with white; under parts white. 



The Kingbird chooses the human or domestic element for its 

 associations, preferably near the lakeshore or a cleared inlet. It 

 nests most frequently in the margin of an inlet, sometimes select- 

 ing a low stump surrounded by water and building its nest on the 

 top of it; and in its guardianship of the locality the Kingbird pre- 

 fers scattered trees of medium or smaller size, or else isolated 

 clumps of trees beyond the sapling stages, from which it can keep 

 an eye on the surroundings and sally out in jealous defense of the 

 premises. After the young are on the wing the Kingbirds become 

 more noisy and loquacious than before, holding many loud and 

 demonstrative conversations with the young in the course of their 

 training for efficient kingbird life. It appears that if there are 

 four young, the elders will divide their charge so that one parent 

 assumes the task of training one or two of the juveniles, and the 

 other parent takes care of the others ; and for several weeks the 

 education of the youngsters goes on and the adult keeps in com- 

 pany with the juveniles, feeding them regularly and initiating them 

 into the arts of insect catching and food selection. It appears fur- 

 ther that the two divisions of the kingbird family resort to locali- 

 ties quite separated for these post-nesting activities ; and further, 

 that these two selected localities are each favorable for a home for 

 the young another season ; hence it has seemed to me that a part 

 of all this care on the part of the adurts for the young is to acquaint 

 the juveniles with suitable nesting localities for the next season. 



An interesting example of this came under my observation. A 

 pair of Kingbirds with two young appeared on a small island in 

 the inlet at the mouth of Sucker Brook after the nest had served 

 its purpose. No Kingbirds had been observed there previously, 

 except casually, but this group seemed to make the place their 

 established headquarters for giving their young a start in life. The 

 island was peculiar in one respect, — it was a compact exhibit of 

 the entire vegetation of the region, a small reproduction in second 

 growth of the typical Adirondack mixed forest. It was much used 

 by passing birds and made a desirable lookout for foraging opera- 

 tions. For two or three weeks these Kingbirds lived as above 

 described, the elders attending the young and the juveniles lazily 

 receiving the attentions of the zealous parents, practically confining 



