The Western Kingbird 
If there is some loud talk about the home, there is also a great deal of 
tenderness, watchful devotion, and genuine interest in the welfare of his 
mate. Affection is not all taken for granted, but its expressions are 
gallantly renewed. There is with them a constant give-and-take of do¬ 
mestic pleasantries, and much whimsical comment on the passing show, 
Taken in the Ojai Photo by Dickey 
GIMME, METOO AND GOT 
such as serves to keep up the spirits of the matrimonially enthralled. 
As a noise-maker T. verticalis has few rivals and no peers. Blatting 
calves and motherless puppies may be more constant to their woes, but 
they lack the Kingbird’s variety and expressiveness. They lack, too, his 
opportunity, for the eye of the Kingbird beholds all things, all comings 
and goings, all threatenings and alarms, all occasions for comment, be 
they real or imaginary. 
To speak briefly of his vocal qualities, one notes first a series properly 
called a courting song, which sounds at an unearthly hour before sun-up 
of an April morning. The love song is, curiously, a sneeze. For the early 
notes are ridiculously like the frantic protests of a prospective victim of 
cachination, followed by an emphatic and triumphant relief: 
an a- ah a 
ah ah 
ah kuchez'iwick, ah kuchez'iwick! 
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