The Hawkeye Orxitiiologist 



OOLOGIST. 



were taken from their newly hatched 

 young, carried to Milan and there re- 

 leased at a given hour. Both made 

 their way back to their nests in thir- 

 teen minutes, which gave the rate of 

 speed at 87A miles an hour. Wilson 

 estimates the flight of the Barn Swal- 

 low at the rate of a mile in a minute, 

 the time spent on wing each day to 

 be ten hours, and its length of life at 

 ten years. This shows that it would 

 thus pass around the globe eighty- 

 seven times. 



For ttif Hawkeye 0. and 0. 



CANADIAN FLYCATCHERS. 



BY Wit L. KKLLS. LISTOWKL, OXTARIO. 



Till! FLYCATCHER FAMILY. 



This is a numerous and widely dif- 

 fused family of birds, of which there 

 are some nine representatives, to be 

 found as summer residents of the 

 Province of Ontario. Some of these 

 are common in all parts of the coun- 

 try, others only rarely met with any- 

 where. And while some of them 

 have their summer homes and nest- 

 ing places near by human dwellings, 

 others are seldom seen or heard ex- 

 cept in the deep wilds of the forest. 

 Of these the kingbird and the 

 phoebe flycatcher are the most fa- 

 miliar, while the scissor-tailed species 

 is so rare as scarcely to be regarded as a 

 Canadian bird. The olive-sided and 

 the yellow-bellied flycatchers are also 

 rarely met with, and the former more 

 as a spring migrant than a summer 

 resident. The wood pewee and the 

 least flycatcher are commonly met 

 with, generally in the woods, some- 

 times in orchards. The crested spe- 

 cies is more rare and generally con- 

 fined to the tops of the trees in deep 

 woods, while Traill's flycatcher is 

 sometimes common in certain low, 

 second-growth woods, where there is 

 deep concealment. They are all in- 

 sect feeders and expert in capturing 



their winged victims. In the form 

 and position of their nests, as well as 

 the marking of their eggs, there is a 

 good deal of variation. Most of them 

 have songs, but their notes possess 

 little melody. 



THE KIXGBIRD. 



( Tyrannus iyrannus. ) 

 This famous little warrior is well 

 known through all the temperate re- 

 gions of eastern North America. It 

 frequents all parts of Ontario, and 

 most of the other Canadian Pi'ov- 

 vinees. Its favorite habitats are or- 

 chards, plantations and patches • of 

 woods bordering on water courses. 

 It is also often observed along the 

 public roads, as well as in m?adows, 

 and pasture fields. It returns to this 

 country from its winter sojourn in 

 the south in the early part of May, 

 and till the female begins to con- 

 struct her nest is comparatively 

 peaceful and silent, but after that 

 period the male bird is the terror of 

 all the small birds in the vicinity, as 

 •he will attack them without the 

 slightest provocation if they have the 

 misfortune to approach the place 

 which the female has chosen for her 

 nesting site; no matter now inno- 

 cent or non-combative may be their 

 character. His whole life during the 

 breeding season, is one continual 

 scene of attacks and battles, in which 

 he is always victorious. He is 

 strangely attached to his mate, and 

 while she attends to her nesting du- 

 ties, he is stationed near by and will 

 attack with daring and gallant cour- 

 age any feathered intruder; not ex- 

 cepting the white-headed-eagle. His 

 ■node of attacking the larger species 

 is to mount in the air above his en- 

 emy, and then by a rapid movement 

 dart upon its back, and sometimes 

 fix himself there and ride oil' a consider- 

 able distance, picking out feathers 

 and uttering notes of triumph, to the 

 great annoyance »of his adversary. 



