FOOD OF OUR MORE IMPORTANT FLYCATCHERS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The flycatchers for the most part inhabit the open country, and 

 prefer to live about gardens, orchards, and sparsely timbered hill- 

 sides. Several species are not averse to human neighbors and make 

 their nests in the crannies of buildings, while a number of others build 

 in covered sites, such as hollow trees, under bridges, or under the 

 overhanging bank of a stream. Many of the species show a strong 

 liking for the vicinity of water, and are frequently to be found in the 

 neighborhood of streams or pools, and in dry parts of the country 

 every watering trough by the roadside has its attendant flycatcher. 

 This fondness for the vicinity of water doubtless arises from the fact 

 that insects are abundant in such situations. Most of the species 

 are migratory, though some of them within rather narrow limits. 



These birds are extremely agile upon the wing, and turn in the air 

 with extraordinary facility, which enables them to catch the flying 

 insects, of which their food largely consists. Their favorite method 

 of feeding is to perch upon a post, stake, or leafless twig, and from 

 this outlook watch for their prey, and then to sally forth and snap the 

 luckless insect in midair, often with a sharp click of the bill and a 

 sudden turn back toward the perch. 



One prominent characteristic, which is more or less marked in the 

 whole family of flycatchers, is the pugnacity they display toward 

 crows, hawks, or other large birds. This is especially shown when the 

 intruders come about the nests of flycatchers, when they are attacked 

 with the greatest vigor and driven off. This trait is particularly 

 marked in kingbirds, so that if a pair of them nest in the vicinity 

 of a poultry yard they serve as protectors of the poultry. 



Within the limits of the United States there are 31 species of fly- 

 catchers; 1 is of accidental occurrence and 8 are of limited distribu- 

 tion and therefore of little economic importance. For the following 

 discussion of the food of flycatchers 3,398 stomachs were examined, 

 belonging to 17 species. Most of them were obtained in the United 

 States, though a few were taken in British America. The animal food 

 in the whole number of stomachs averages 94.99 per cent and the 

 vegetable 5.01 per cent. In the following table the species are 

 arranged in the order of the amount of their animal food. As some 

 of the species are represented by a comparatively small number of 

 stomachs, this arrangement can not be considered final. 



