BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 147 



The nest, a rather bulky and loosely made structure, is composed 

 of grasses, weeds, roots, etc., and is built generally on the limb of an 

 apple or pear tree in an orchard; sometimes, however, nests are 

 placed in oak and other trees. It is built by the joint labor of both 

 birds, who complete this work in about five days. The eggs, usually 

 four or five in number, are creamy-white spotted conspicuously with 

 different shades of brown and indistinct spots of bluish-gray. The 

 eggs vary greatly in size ; a large one measures an inch in length and 

 f of an inch in width. The period of incubation is about fourteen 

 days. From his favorite perch either on a stake, the top of a tree 

 or a high weed in the field, the Kingbird watches for his insect 

 prey; at other times he is observed flying over a field in a man- 

 ner similar to that of the Sparrow Hawk, watching for grasshoppers, 

 crickets or other insects. As Wilson observes, he sometimes hovers 

 over a river or pond, darting after insects that frequent such places, 

 snatching them from the surface of the water, and diving about in the 

 air like a swallow. Some few years ago I saw a Kingbird dart down 

 to the water in a shallow pond and fly off with a shining object in his 

 bill, that at the time I thought appeared like a small fish, but never 

 having seen or heard of this species feeding on fishes, but little notice 

 was taken of the bird, which flew to a tree some two hundred yards 

 distant. From an article published in the Forest and Stream, Sep- 

 tember 2, 1882, and written by Milton P. Peirce, it appears that King- 

 birds sometimes feed on fishes. Mr. Peirce writes : " These birds are 

 very abundant about my premises, nesting in some cases within a few 

 feet of my residence * * * I have often noticed them striking 

 the surface of the water in my fish ponds, but supposed they were 

 either taking a bath or else catching insects which were flying near 

 the surface of the water. When I constructed my bass pond, a few 

 years ago, I stocked it with minnows to afford ample food for the bass. 

 At times the entire surface of the pond seems alive with them. A 

 few days ago I observed at least a half dozen Kingbirds perched on 

 trees and bushes, near the margin of the pond, and almost every 

 moment some of them would dive into the water precisely like a 

 Kingfisher, and I concluded they were catching bugs or other insects, 

 which were floating upon the surface of the water. Watching them 

 closely, I soon saw one of them leave the water with something pre- 

 ceptibly shining in its bill. It alighted on a tree about fifty yards 

 from where I was sitting, and acted precisely as a Kingfisher does 

 when killing a fish. Taking a telescope, I also took an observation 

 and discovered that the Kingbird had a minnow not less than three 

 inches long. I continued my observations for about fifteen minutes, 

 and during that time these birds caught several small minnows and 

 ate them." Notwithstanding the benefits which this bird confers, de- 



