The Kingbird 
323 
remained for two or three minutes, pulling and tugging at the rag. After 
getting it placed to its satisfaction, it flew away. We had discovered a 
Kingbird in the act of building its nest, and, so far as we could observe, 
had actually seen it bring the very first piece of material with which to 
make it. 
Day after day, in the early morning, we would slip out to see how the 
work was progressing. The birds seemed to work at their nest-building, 
chiefly, in the early morning ; still, it must be confessed we did not watch 
very closely at other times of the day, and the birds may have continued 
their efforts at various periods until the sun went 
down. In making the nest, the birds used old weed- Cons^ructmg a 
stalks, grass, pieces of paper, and rootlets ; and it took 
them many days to complete the task. Although it would have been easy 
to climb up to the nest, we did not do so. The little girl, who belongs to 
a Junior Audubon Society, told me it was a rather bad practice for chil- 
dren to peep into every nest they found, so we never learned how many 
eggs were laid in it. 
Later, however, we saw three young sitting on the limbs near the nest, 
where both the father and the mother often fed them. The tree stood not 
more than twenty feet from the veranda of a summer club-house, where 
many came three times a day for their meals. Children and dogs romped 
about the place or sat on the bench under the tree, but the Kingbirds never 
seemed frightened. 
If birds are undisturbed by their human neighbors they soon learn that 
no one means to harm them, and often become very tame. We all have 
seen many photographs of Chickadees, Bluebirds, and other small birds, 
that have become so tame that they would alight on the shoulders or hat 
of a man or woman who was kind to them. 
Hidden by the dark feathers on the top of its head is a bright orange- 
red spot. The Kingbird can open the feathers of its crown whenever it 
wishes to, in such a way as to show this bright spot. It has been thought 
by some people that the Kingbird does this to deceive 
insects into thinking that they have discovered a flower Kingbird’s 
where honey may be gathered. If true, this would be Crown 
very nice for the Kingbird, and no doubt would help it very much in 
getting a living. Perhaps some member of a Junior Audubon Class, by 
watching one of these birds, will discover whether or not this supposition 
is true. 
If one watches the Kingbird very long, he will notice that most of its 
time seems to be occupied with hunting food. Birds have different ways 
of getting the necessary things to eat. Thus, some wild Ducks dabble in 
the mud; Woodpeckers find food by searching crevices in the bark and 
wood of a tree; Kingfishers dart into the waters of lakes and rivers to cap- 
ture small fish; and Herons wade in shallow water and spear prey with 
their long bills. The Kingbird uses none of these methods. Standing on 
the topmost branch of some small tree, telegraph-pole, or barbed-wire 
