THE ARKANSAS KINGBIRD. 247 



Mr. Walter E. Bryant makes the following remarks relatin<^- to this subject 

 in "Zee" (Vol IV, 1893, p. 57): 



"Mr. A. Bamett, of San Diego County, California, has 300 swarms of bees, 

 which attracted the Flycatchers to such an extent that he made some investiga- 

 tions to ascertain to what degree they might be damaging to the bee industry. 

 Over one hundred Arkansas Flycatchers and Phoebes (Black and Say's) were 

 dissected. In all of the Arkansas Flycatchers only drones were found, but no 

 working bees, although in many cases the birds were gorged. In most of the 

 Phoebes drone bees were also found; the only exception was that of a Phoebe 

 (Say's?) in which a bee sting was found in the base of the tongue. The birds 

 were all shot about apiaries, and were seen darting upon and catching bees. 

 The examinations were made with a hand lens. Mr. Bamett regards the occur- 

 rence of the sting found in the Phoebe as accidental, and concluded that Fly- 

 catchers ai'e beneficial in reducing the numbers of drones." 



The Arkansas Kingbird, like all of our Flycatchers, is extremely beneficial 

 and deserves the fullest protection, and where not molested becomes quite tame 

 and will readily nest about houses. They are not at all j)articular in the choice 

 of nesting sites and build in various situations, but generally in trees in creek 

 bottoms, near water, though I have occasionally found one of their nests fully a 

 mile away in an isolated tree in the foothills. Cottonwoods and willows seem to 

 be more often selected than other trees, but perhaps only because they are the 

 commonest kinds throughout most of their breeding range. Oaks, sycamores, 

 Australian blue gum, junipers, elms, and orchard trees are also made use of to 

 a certain extent, while pines are rarely occupied. 



Mr. William G. Smith informs me that in Colorado they nest occasionally 

 on ledges. Dr. C. T. Cooke writes me that a pair of these birds nested in the 

 summer of 1891 in a church steeple in Salem, Oregon, and Mr. Elmer T. Judd, 

 of Cando, North Dakota, informs me that he found a nest on a beam of a rail- 

 road windmill pump, about 6 feet from the ground, where trains passed close by 

 the nest constantly; another was found by him on a grainbinder which was 

 standing within a couple of rods of a public schoolhouse. 



I have examined many of their nests in various parts of the West. The 

 majority of these were placed in forks of trees, and generally close to the trunk; 

 others were saddled on horizontal limbs. One nest was placed in the top of a 

 hollow Cottonwood stump, the rim of the nest being flush with the top ; another 

 pair made use of an old nest of the Western Robin ; and still another built on the 

 sill of one of the attic windows of my quarters at Fort Lapwai, Idaho. They 

 probably would not have succeeded in keeping this nest in i^lace had I not 

 nailed a piece of board along the outside to prevent the wind from blowing the 

 materials away as fast as the birds could bring them. They were persistent, 

 however, and not easily discouraged, working hard for a couple of days in 

 trying to secure a firm foundation before I came to their assistance. Both birds 

 were equally diligent in the construction of their home until it was nearly fin- 

 ished, when the female did most of the arranging of the inner lining, and many 



