DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 



an altitude of twelve thousand feet, yet he is by no 

 means rare along the lowlands. Pine, oak, Cottonwood, 

 walnut, hickberry, and sycamore trees are his chosen 

 nesting sites, and on the horizontal limbs of these the 

 bulky cradle is constructed. Twigs, rootlets, weed stalks, 

 string, rags, and plant fibre form its walls, grotesquely 

 decorated with feathers, like those of the Arkansas king- 

 bird. These last, waving rakishly in the wind, are quite 

 in keeping with the character of the bird. From two 

 to five eggs are laid, and incubation lasts fourteen days, 

 the female alone brooding on the nest, although the 

 male is always near to defend. The courage of Cassin 

 Kingbirds cannot be doubted ; and though they are far 

 less quarrelsome than the Arkansas, they are not a whit 

 less brave in defence. In some instances their pluckiness 

 exceeds that of their relatives, for while the latter are 

 content to live at peace with hawks and crows, Cassin 

 Kingbirds drive both these from their neighborhood by 

 an onslaught both fierce and speedy. For this they 

 have good cause, for crows are thieves and cannibals, 

 feasting on the eggs and young of smaller birds. 



The young Kingbirds, although born naked, soon 

 develop feathers. They stay in the nest about two 

 weeks, and are taught to fly and hunt in the same 

 manner as are the little Arkansas nestlings, and as also 

 are the young of the Eastern kingbird, called the tyrant. 

 Of the many broods of the latter that I have watched, 

 the process has ever been the same. Nor do they differ 

 greatly in any of their habits. The Cassin, sitting on a 

 fence or a weed stalk, flying out after a passing insect, 



