LAND BIRDS. 395 
distributed throughout the state in summer, and nesting freely along our 
highways and in orchards everywhere. It is noted mainly for its frequent 
and courageous attacks on crows and hawks, which have won for it the name 
Kingbird, and it has also obtained, more or less unjustly, a reputation 
for the destruction of honey bees which has given it the name of “Bee 
Martin” or ‘“‘Bee-bird.”” Its valor in defence of its nest is not to be doubted, 
but the facts as regards bee-eating do not warrant the general opinion. 
It has been shown most conclusively, by the examination of numerous 
stomachs, as well as by careful observation of the living bird, that it seldom 
eats worker bees, usually contenting itself with drones. Of course it makes 
an occasional mistake and snaps up an armed worker, undoubtedly paying 
a severe penalty for its carelessness. The stomach examinations just 
referred to (281 stomachs), made under our own direction, in the U. 8S. 
Department of Agriculture, showed that about 90 percent of the food 
consisted of animal matter, most of which was insects. These included 
beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, bees, wasps, two-winged flies, and even 
caterpillars. There were fifty honey bees in these stomachs, forty of which 
were surely drones, and only four certainly workers. 
The bird feeds much like other flycatchers, selecting a perch from which 
it makes frequent sallies after passing insects; but it also frequently descends 
to the ground and picks up insects creeping there. It is fond of the vicinity 
of water and may be seen frequently dipping its biJl after the manner of a 
swallow, and probably in some cases snapping up insects from the surface 
of the water. Its characteristic flight, with widely spread tail and quickly 
vibrating wings, is well known to every observer, and the species may be 
identified almost as far as it can be seen by its characteristic motions. 
The nest is bulky and usually in plain view on the horizontal branch of 
a scrubby tree, often a thorn tree or a neglected fruit tree in an orchard 
or by the roadside. Occasionally it nests on 
the bough of an evergreen, or even on the y 
timber of a bridge or the top of a fence post. => mf 
but these are departures from its usual custom. — ~/™) a 
Still more unusual is the condition described 
by R. W. Chaney, in the Hamilton Lake region J BGs 
on the west side of the state. He says: ‘This ee eS an 
species might be considered almost aquatic in its nesting habits, as the 
nests were invariably placed in stumps projecting out of the water, often 
at a considerable distance from the shore. Nests with eggs—always three 
in number—were seen up to the middle of July” (Birds of Mason county, 
Mich., Auk, XXVII, 1910, 274). The nest is compactly built of grass, 
bark, roots, strings and often paper and rags, and lined usually with rootlets 
and slender vegetable fibres. The eggs are four to six, pure white or creamy 
white, boldly spotted and blotched with various shades of brown and lilac, 
and average .95 by .69 inches. They are among the handsomest eggs 
laid by our small birds. ; ; ; 
The Kingbird arrives from the south late in April or early in May, and the 
nest is built during the latter half of May, often not until the first of June. 
Fresh eggs are likely to be found in the southern half of the state during 
the first week in June, although many are not laid until the middle of the 
month. Not’infrequently nests with eggs of young are found in July, 
indicating a second brood, but it seems likely that these are mostly the 
nests of birds whohave been unsuccessful in their first attempt. 
fs 
In August the Kingbirds often gather in small companies and feed 
oa 
a 
