EVOLUTION OP THE COLORS OF BIRDS. 199 



to light instances of these (1) jiscu.daposematic colors 

 among North American birds. 



^ There is at least one excellent illustration of (2) pseu- 

 depisemcdic colors, however, among our native birds. 

 Dr. Stejneger quotes Mr. Charles W. Beckham on the 

 case in point, referring to the kingbird (Tyrannus tyran- 

 nus)-/^ " Several years ago, in May, I saw one of these 

 birds occupying an exposed perch on a pear tree in 

 bloom, about which many bees were darting. Several 

 times I observed that the bird caught the insects with- 

 out leaving his perch by quickly turning his head 

 and 'grabbing' them. My attention being thoroughly 

 aroused,! noticed that many of them seemed to fly directly 

 towards him; the majority appearing to 'shy off' at a 

 short distance and change their course, but very few 

 that came within reach escaped him. The question 

 naturally suggests itself: Did the thrifty Hymenoptera 

 mistake the fully displayed orange-red crown (I could 

 see that the crest was erected), for a flower? Once since 

 I have observed the same phenomenon, but not as well 

 as upon this occasion. Mr. C. C. Nutting, who has 

 spent considerable time studying the birds of Costa Rica 

 and Nicaragua in their native haunts, states that he has 

 seen Muscivora mexicana perched upon a twig, and wav- 

 ing its curious and brilliant fan-shaped crest after the 

 manner of a flower swayed by a gentle breeze and thus 

 attracting insects within reach." 



It is not impossible that the crest of the kinglets and 

 other insect eating species similarly adorned, even 

 though developed by sexual selection may have after- 

 wards been used for attracting insects. It would re- 

 quire a long series of careful observations to demon- 

 strate this point however. 



* Eiverside Natural History, iv, p. 469. 



