branches, on which they are built, by the 

 use of pieces of string. The sets of eggs 

 vary from four to six. 



These Kingbirds are seldom found at 

 elevations higher than seven thousand 

 feet. Mr. Nuttall speaks of them as bold 

 and querulous birds. He speaks of their 

 notes as a discordant, clicking warble 

 sounding like tsh' k-tsJi k-tshivait and not 

 unlike the creaking sound of a rusty 

 door-hinge. Mr. William Rogers Lord 

 in his "Birds of Oregon and Washing- 

 ton" says of this Kingbird: "Though a 

 'King of the Birds,' he is not, as is gen- 

 erally supposed, a tyrant king, unless he 

 is -very unlike his eastern counterpart, 

 'The King-bird.' On the other hand, like 



the bulldog among dogs (unless the bull- 

 dog has been spoiled in training), the 

 bird is just and tolerant." 



While the Arkansas Kingbirds are 

 known to eat bees, it has been shown by 

 Professor Beal of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture that this habit 

 is not very serious. He reports that in 

 the examination of over two hundred of 

 their stomachs he found only fourteen 

 which had bees in them and that injuri- 

 ous insects formed fully sixty per centum 

 of the contents. He also found that the 

 larger number of the bees were drones. 

 The work of Professor Beal speaks 

 strongly in favor of the protection of 

 these birds by the agriculturists. 



BIRDS AROUND MY HOME 



One June day my neighbor who had 

 hunted birds with me through all the 

 spring-time made a most pleasing dis- 

 covery. Low in the lilac bushes across 

 the country road which runs close to 

 her home, only a foot from the ground 

 was a bird's nest, and the mother bird, 

 covering her eggs ; it was a red-eye and 

 so tame or so devoted that we went of- 

 ten to visit her and could approach with- 

 in a step or two and she would not fly 

 until we were near enough to put out a 

 hand and touch her, when she would 

 flutter off and hide in the same clump till 

 we were gone. One tgg was discovered 

 on tlie ground one morning and returned 

 to the nest but the mother bird knew 

 better than we, for only two tiny birds 

 hatched instead of three. We loved to 

 peep in and see the atoms of bird-dom, 

 for we knew a life was in them that one 

 day would make many happy by their 

 cheerful songs. But they were only a 

 promise now, day after day they ate and 

 slept but the time came when we found 

 one perched on the edge of the nest to 

 inspect the world around him before he 

 started on his wanderings. A few hours 

 later returning we found number two 

 on the edge and the bolder one in a 

 neighboring tree ; the next day neither 

 one could be found and the wonder rises 



in one's mind why the nestlings just 

 learning to use their wings can go out 

 of one's knowledge so quickly. Perhaps 

 they are only in a tree or bush a few 

 feet away but they are not seen again. 

 Why is it that I've never seen the baby 

 orioles though their nest hangs year af- 

 ter year from the elm tree and I hear 

 their voices calling "something to eat" 

 as a certain small boy used to do at the 

 table when his plate became empty. 



The young barn swallows will linger 

 a few days. I saw a pretty sight once, 

 five baby swallows in lustrous blue, on 

 the top rail of the garden fence, clinging 

 for safety and watching for their mother. 

 As soon as they caught the sound of her 

 coming the little wings would flutter and 

 mouths fly open for the tidbit and one 

 fortunate youngster would get it. I 

 watched to see if the same bird caught 

 the second bite, but he didn't, another 

 one in the line was the lucky recipient 

 when she appeared again. Sometimes 

 these young birds, not little, as we say 

 of so many nestlings, come into the barn 

 to sleep for a few nights and I have seen 

 two perch in the gutter over the great 

 barn door for the last night before they 

 disappeared. 



I had often longed to see some blue- 

 birds just after they left their nest and 



