﻿Common Birds in Relation to Agriculture. 301 



to an injurious extent, and it is very doubtful if this 

 is ever the case, for cherries and blackberries are the only 

 ones that might have come from cultivated places, and 

 they were found in but few stomachs. 



Three points seem to be clearly established in regard to 

 the food of the kingbird — (1) that about 90 per cent, 

 consists of insects, mostly injurious species ; (2) that the 

 alleged habit of preying upon honeybees is much less 

 prevalent than has been supposed, and probably does not 

 result in any great damage ; and (3) that the vegetable 

 food consists almost entirely of wild fruits which have no 

 economic value. These facts, taken in connection with its 

 well-known enmity for hawks and crows, entitle the 

 kingbird to a place among the most desirable birds of the 

 orchard or garden. 



THE PHCEBE. 



[Sayornis phcebe.) 



Among the early spring arrivals at the North, none are 

 more welcome than the phoebe. Though naturally 

 building its nest under an overhanging cliff of rock or 

 earth, or in the mouth of a cave, its preference for 

 the vicinity of farm buildings is so marked that in the 

 more thickly settled parts of the country the bird is 

 seldom seen at any great distance from a farmhouse 

 except where a bridge spans some stream, affording a 

 secure spot for a nest. Its confiding disposition has 

 rendered it a great favorite, and consequently it is seldom 

 disturbed. It breeds throughout the United States east 

 of the Great Plains, and winters from the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States southward. 



The phoebe subsists almost exclusively upon insects, 

 most of which are caught upon the wing. An examination 

 of 80 stomachs showed that over 93 per cent, of the year's 

 food consists of insects and spiders, while wild fruit 

 constitutes the remainder. The insects belong chiefly to 



