Tin: IIauki.il Okmthoi.ooist ami OoJ.oCirfT. 



who by various turnings endeavors 

 to rid itself of its troublesome little 

 opponent. But the kingbird, from 

 his natural abilities and constant 

 practice, is not easily dismounted; 

 nor does he give up the contest until 

 the object of his dislike has left the 

 neighborhood, and his passion has 

 exhausted irs fury. 



The female is also courageous, and 

 often joins her mate in the attack, 

 but she seldom pursues the fugitive 

 more than a few rods from her nest- 

 ing place. 



The nest of the kingbird is placed 

 in various situations and at various 

 elevations from the ground. Gener- 

 ally it is placed on the horizontal 

 branch of an apple or shade tree 

 near human dwellings, again you 

 may see its nest on the limb of a high 

 t.-ee on the margin of the woods, or 

 bordering a water course. Some- 

 times it will nest on the top rail of 

 a fence, or inside the old nest of a' 

 robia, between the rails: a thorn- 

 busn is also with it a favorite nest- 

 ing site. This structure is commonly 

 formed with wool, strips of bark. 

 horse hair and line rootlets. The 

 eggs arc usually four to the set, 

 til j igh soinstimes three and even 

 t .v > are found undergoing the process 

 ..if incubation. These are of a clear 

 white color, marked towards the 

 large end with a few brownish or 

 black sputs. 



Althoug.; the kingbird is usually 

 su -eessful in his attempts to drive off 

 file larger species of birds, yet he 

 sometimes meets with trouble from 

 the male baltimore oriole and purple 

 martin, while the redheaded wood- 

 pecker at times' highly irritates him 

 by clinging to the side of a tree and 

 playing bo-peep around it, though he 

 makes many vain efforts to dislodge 

 it. But the kingbird waits his oppor- 

 tunity: he retires a short distance 

 and when the poor woodpecker im- 



agines that the way is clear, leaves 

 his perch and starts for some other 

 retreat; then the tyrant with notes of 

 exultation, darts off in pursuit, over- 

 takes the fugitive in mid air, and 

 either hurls it to the ground or caus- 

 es it, with cries of distress, to take 

 refuge on the nearest tree or fence. 

 Sometimes when the kingbird be- 

 comes enraged he "will even attack 

 his female and cause her to take ref- 

 uge among the thick branches of 

 some tree until his passion has sub- 

 sided. This species feeds much on 

 insects, chiefly those of a medium 

 size, which are generally captured on 

 the wing or picked up off the grass. 

 Sometimes he will take his stand on 

 a mullen stalk or tall weed in the 

 pasture field near where cattle or 

 horses are feeding, and then make a 

 series of sweeps around them in pur- 

 suit of insects, particularly the large 

 black gad-fly which are so annoying to 

 these animals, in which case he must 

 be looked upon as a beneficial servant, 

 but his partiality to the honey bee 

 is not relished by the apiculturist. 

 Some persons contend that it is only 

 the drones that the kingbird makes 

 use of for a morning or a noon-day 

 meal, and that the working bees are 

 not molested, but the probability is 

 that the bird exercises no discretion 

 in tlie matter, but snaps up whatever 

 kinds of insects that are most easily 

 procured, whenever it feels disposed 



to dine on these humming creatures. 

 Notwithstanding this, however, the 

 agriculturist may be assured that this 

 bird renders him more service than 

 injury by destroying great numbers 

 of other insects which prey upon the 

 fruits of his industry. 



The length of this bird is about 

 eight inches. The crown of the head 

 has a flame-colored patch, the rest of 

 the plumage on the upper parts is 

 dusty black, the head and neck being 

 darker than on the other parts. The 

 lower parts are white, the tail also 

 being fringed with the same color. 



(TO BE CONTINUED.) 



