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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Frequently I have seen a kingbird alight 

 on the larger bird's back while it pecked 

 and pulled at its feathers. 



With the crow driven beyond the bounds 

 of the kingbird's territory, the little war- 

 rior returns with widely spread, vibrating 

 wings to circle down to its perch. Hawks 

 and other birds are fair game and are driven 

 across the sky with excited calls. 



Kingbirds often build their compact, 

 softly lined nests above water, placing them 

 openly, without concealment, on overhang- 

 ing branches. They nest frequently in 

 orchards and in roadside trees, always with 

 fearless disregard for the protection ordi- 

 narily sought by birds of their size, since 

 as audacious warriors they have every con- 

 fidence in their prowess in protecting their 

 homes. The nest contains three or four 

 eggs, rarely five, white or creamy, spotted 

 boldly with brown and bluish gray. 



Kingbirds feed mainly on insects, in late 

 summer eating such small wild fruits as 

 chokecherries. They are entirely bene- 

 ficial, being favorites with most farmers 

 because of their services in harrying crows 

 and hawks from chicken yards. 



This species nests from southern British 

 Columbia and Nova Scotia to Texas and 

 Florida. It winters from Mexico to north- 

 ern South .'\merica. 



Cassin's Kingbird 



{Tyranuus vocijcrans) 



Burford Lake, the largest natural lake in 

 New Mexico, lies in a great irregular trough 

 near the Continental Divide at an elevation 

 of 7,094 feet above sea level. As the sun 

 was setting after a warm day in June, I 

 walked out from camp in a little dobe cabin 

 to the spring that supplied us with water. 

 The air was cool and birds everywhere were 

 active. 



Amid the songs of rock wrens, the scold- 

 ing notes of a mockingbird, and the cheer- 

 ful calls of western robins, I heard sud- 

 denly an excited medley of odd calls and 

 saw a Cassin's kingbird dart out from the 

 top of a dead tree in an erratic sky dance. 

 It made sudden, quick side darts, abrupt 

 turns and zigzags. The air was filled with 

 the explosive sound of its notes. From high 

 yellow pines others of its kind called in stir- 

 ring accompaniment (Plate V). 



Both here and later in the Chiricahua 

 Mountains of southeastern Arizona, I found 

 the Cassin's kingbirds nesting, sometimes 

 in trees on open hillsides and sometimes in 



oaks standing beside ranchhouses. The 

 nests are bulky and the eggs like those of 

 the eastern kingbird, though often less 

 heavily spotted. 



Cassin's kingbird nests from central Cali- 

 fornia and central Montana south into 

 Mexico. In winter it ranges to Guatemala. 



Arkansas Kingbird 



(Tyranuus vcrticalis) 



In summer travel on western highways, 

 one sees on wires, bush tops, and other com- 

 manding perches a flycatcher that is cer- 

 tainly a kingbird, but that has a light-gray 

 back and yellow underparts. As it files out 

 to seize an insect with a loud snap of its 

 bill, the black tail is conspicuous. This is 

 the Arkansas, or western, kingbird (Color 

 Plate V). 



Like others of its clan, this kingbird is 

 active and aggressive (page 816). 



Its nest in bushes or trees is made of weed 

 stems and twigs, lined with softer fibers and 

 feathers. The three to five eggs resemble 

 those of the eastern kingbird. 



During the past sixty years the Arkansas 

 kingbird has extended its range steadily 

 eastward until now it occupies wide areas 

 from Minnesota southward where in earlier 

 days it was not known. In the Great Plains 

 area it is found with the eastern bird and 

 it replaces that species in the Far West. 



The nesting grounds extend from south- 

 ern British Columbia and ]\Ianitoba to 

 northern Baja California and Texas and 

 thence eastward, the birds having been 

 found recently as far as northern Ohio. 

 They winter from western Mexico to Nica- 

 ragua and occur casually in the East. 



Couch's Kingbird 



(Tyranuus uidaucholkus couchi) 

 In the lower Rio Grande \'alle3' is found 

 this kingbird, distinguished from others of 

 similar pattern by somewhat darker color 

 (Plate V). 



The nest often contains Spanish moss. 

 The three or four eggs are marked by a 

 creamy pink ground color, though the spot- 

 tings are similar to those of other kingbird 



Couch's kingbird ranges from southern 

 Texas into INIexico, while related forms are 

 distributed widely in tropical America. 

 The gray kingbird ( Tyranuus dominiccusis 

 douiiuiccnsis) , another distinct species, is 

 regularly seen along the southeastern coast 

 from southern South Carolina into Florida 



