THE ARKANSAS KINGBIRD 



( Tyr annus verti calls. ) 



The Arkansas Kingbird, or Arkansas 

 Flycatcher as it is frequently called, is a 

 native of the western United States from 

 Kansas and western Iowa to the Pacific 

 Ocean. Stray specimens have also been 

 reported from Maine, New York, New 

 Jersey, and Maryland. Its range* also 

 reaches from British Columbia south 

 through Lower California and western 

 Mexico to Guatemala. Both the habits 

 and ways of the birds of this species are 

 like those of our common and familiar 

 kingbird. In his "Birds of the North- 

 west," Dr. Coues quotes the observations 

 of Mr. Allen, who says : "The Arkansas 

 Flycatcher occurs abundantly as far east 

 as Fort Hays, Kansas, where it is one of 

 the most numerous and characteristic of 

 the woodland birds. It seems even more 

 pugnacious than its relative the kingbird, 

 the males fighting with each other almost 

 constantly ; and it is equally alert in driv- 

 ing other birds from the vicinity of its 

 nest. Its notes are harsher and louder 

 than those of the kingbird, though at 

 times rather more musical ; they are 

 marked by the same general character. 

 It is more graceful on the wing than the 

 latter bird, possessing rather supe- 

 rior powers of flight, yet resembling it 

 closely in general habits." Because of 

 the earnest and courageous defense of 

 their nests, smaller birds seem to realize 

 that their nests, eggs and young are safer 

 when in the vicinity of those of the Ar- 

 kansas Kingbirds, and quite a number 

 are thus constructed and thus receive the 

 protection of the Kingbirds which have 

 suf^cient courage to drive away preda- 

 tory birds from their homes. 



It seems too bad that these beautiful 

 birds have one habit which is against 

 them. They feed to a certain extent 

 upon bees and will sometimes frequent 

 the vicinity of hives. It is, however, 

 much better to frighten them away than 

 to kill them for they arc very useful to 

 the agricultnrist as they destroy very 



large numbers of insects which are nox- 

 ious, and are thus very beneficial. 



At the time of their spring migrations 

 groups of males appear first and quarrel 

 among themselves until those which are 

 victorious have selected their mates. 

 Their nests are described by some ob- 

 servers as being very large and bulky 

 and the walls are constructed with rather 

 large stems of plants, and they are lined 

 with finer and softer materials, such as 

 hair and wool. Mr. Oliver Davie states 

 that these birds build their nests in any 

 convenient place, such as the "frame- 

 work of a windmill, the cornice of a 

 house, on fence posts, in the forks of 

 trees at heights ranging from five to fifty 

 feet." He also speaks of one instance 

 where a nest was started on a horizontal 

 blade of a windmill. An occasional 

 breath of air would slightly turn the mill 

 and bring another and then another of 

 the blades into a horizontal position. 

 Upon each of these blades a nest was 

 begun by depositing the first materials 

 used. Thus several nests appeared in 

 different stages of constructian but, of 

 course, not one was completed. This 

 well illustrates the persistent character 

 of these Kingbirds. Dr. J. G. Cooper, 

 describing a nest which he found at 

 Santa Barbara, California, says : "This 

 nest was built on a branch of a. low oak 

 near the town, was five inches wide, and 

 constructed of lichens, twigs, coarse 

 grass, and wool, lined with hair, and the 

 four eggs it contained were creamy- 

 white, spotted with purple of two shades 

 near the large end." In the building of 

 their nests, however, any available ma- 

 terials are used, such as twigs, stems of 

 plants, grass and sometimes rags and 

 strings. They are lined with hair, cot- 

 ton, wool, strings, feathers, and in fact 

 any soft materials which may be at hand. 

 They arc also known to construct their 

 nests, at times, in garden shrubbery. 

 Frequently the nests arc fastened to the 



