TYIIANNID^ — TYBANNIN^ : TYRANT FL YCA TCHERS. 433 
edging of the wings ami tail. Length about 8.00; extent 14.50; wing 4.50; tail 3.50, 
even or slightly rounded ; bill small, under an inch long. Temperate N. Am., but chiefly 
E. U. S. to Rocky Mts. ; rare or casual on the Pacific slope ; abundant in summer ; breeds 
throughout its range ; winters on the southern border and 
beyond. This trim and shapely martinet," in severe 
black and white but with fiery pompon, is familiar to all, 
and equally noted for its irritability, pugnacity, and intre- 
pidity, and its inveterate enmity to crows, hawks, and owls, 
which it does not hesitate to attack, either in defence of its 
nest or just to show its spunk. Nest a conspicuous object 
in the orchard or by the wayside, on the horizontal bough 
of a tree, large, cupped, compactly woven and matted with 
fibrous and disintegrated vegetable substances; eggs usu- 
ally 4-5-6, 0.90 to 1.00 long by 0.72 broad, white, rosy, or 
creamy, variously spotted or blotched in bold pattern with 
reddish and darker brown surface-spots and lilac shell- 
markings. Destroys a thousand noxious insects for every Fig. 283.— King-bird, reduced. (From 
bee it eats ! ^^^^^y' ^ 
369. T. dominicen'sis. (Of St. Domingo.) Gray King-bird. $ 9 > adult : Five or six outer 
primaries usually emarginate. Crown-spot as before. Grayish-plumbeous, rather darker on 
head, the auriculars dusky. Below, white, shaded with ashy on breast and sides, the under 
wing- and tail-coverts faintly yellowish ; wings and tail dusky, edged with whitish or yel- 
lowish ; the tail-feathers merely indistinctly lighter at the extreme tip. Larger than the last ; 
Length about 9.00; wing 5.50 ; tail nearly 5.00, more or less emarginate; bill very turgid, an 
inch long. West Indies ; Florida regularly ; N. to Carolina rarely, to Massachusetts acci- 
dentally. General appearance, habits and nesting of the king-bird. 
370. T. vertica'lis. (Lat. verticalis, relating to the vertex, or top of head, which has a flame-patch. 
Fig. 278.) Arkansas Tyrant Flycatcher. Several outer primaries gradually attenuated 
for a long distance (fig. 279, c). Coloration olivaceous and yellow ; belly and under wing- 
and tail-coverts clear yellow ; back ashy-olive, changing to clear ash on the head, throat, and 
breast, the chin whitening, the lores and auriculars dusky ; wings dark brown with \vhitish 
edging ; tail black or blackish ; bill and feet black ; iris brown. Outer web of outer tail- 
feather entirely white. Ash of the fore parts pale, contrasting with dusky lores and auric- 
ulars, fading insensibly into white on the chin, and changing gradually to yellow on the 
belly ; olive predominating over ashy on the back. Length about 9.00 ; extent about 16.50 ; 
wing 5.00; tail 4.00; bill 0.75; tarsus 0.75. Young: Similar; general ash of the body 
dull, with a brownish east ; little or no olivaceous on back ; tail not quite black ; yellow of 
under parts pale and sulphury, even whitish ; bill light-colored at base below ; no color on 
crown, and primaries scarcely or not attenuate. Very young with rusty edgings, especially 
on wing- and tail-coverts. Western U. S., abundant; accidental in Louisiana, New Jersey, 
and Maine ; E. regularly to Kansas, Iowa, etc., N. to British Provinces in Missouri and Milk 
River region and westward. General traits those of the king-bird ; nest similar, rather 
larger, with more fluffy and less fibrous material ; eggs not distinguishable with certainty. 
371. T. voci'ferans. (Lat. vociferans, vociferous, voice-bearing ; vox, voice, and fero, I bear.) 
Cassin's Tyrant Flycatcher. Several outer primaries abruptly emarginate for a short 
distance (fig. 279, d). Outer web of outer tail-feather barely or not edged with whitish. General 
coloration as in T. verticalis; but ash of fore parts dark, little difi'erent on the lores and auricu- 
' lars, changing rather abruptly to white on the chin and to yellow on the belly ; ashy predomi- 
nating over olive on the back. The difference is decisive on comparison. The outer primaries 
are abruptly nicked and narrowed within half an inch of the end. The mere edging of the outer 
28 
