24 
Conservation Bulletin 18 
insects, including honeybees, and which are known to commit in this way 
extensive depredations. It is thus evident that the kingbird by destroying these 
Hies actually does good work for the apiarist. The 26 robber dies found in the 
stomachs may be considered more than an equivalent for the 8 worker honey¬ 
bees already mentioned. A few caterpillars are eaten, mostly belonging to the 
group commonly known as cutworms, all the species of which are harmful. 
About 11 per cent of the food consists of small native fruits, comprising some 
30 common species of the roadsides and thickets, as dogwood berries, elder¬ 
berries, and wild grapes. The kingbird is not reported as eating cultivated 
fruit to an injurious extent, and it is very doubtful if this is ever the case. 
In the Western States the Arkansas kingbird 53 is not so domestic in its habits 
as its eastern relative, preferring to live among scattering oaks on lonely hill¬ 
sides, rather than in orchards about ranch buildings. The work it does, how¬ 
ever, in the destruction of noxious insects fully equals that of any member of 
its family. Like other flycatchers, it subsists mostly upon insects taken in 
midair, though it eats a number of grasshoppers, probably taken from the 
ground. The bulk of its food consists of beetles, bugs, wasps, and wild bees. 
Like its eastern representative, it has been accused of feeding to an injurious 
extent upon honeybees. In an examination of 62 stomachs of this species, 
great care was taken to identify every insect or fragment that had any resem¬ 
blance to a honeybee; a^ a result, 
30 honeybees were identified, of 
which 29 were males or drones 
and 1 a worker. These were con¬ 
tained in four stomachs, and were 
the sole contents of three; in the 
fourth they constituted 99 per cent 
of the food. It is evident that the 
bee-eating habit is only occasional 
and accidental, rather than ha¬ 
bitual ; and it is also evident that 
if this ratio of drones to workers 
were maintained, the bird would be 
of more benefit than harm to the 
apiary. 
The Cassin kingbird 64 has a more 
southerly range than the Arkansas 
flycatcher. Examination of a num¬ 
ber of stomachs shows that its food 
habits are similar to those of others 
of the group. 
Three points seem to be clearly 
established in regard to the food of 
the kingbirds—(1) that about 90 
per cent consists of insects, mostly 
injurious species; (2) that the alleged habit of preying upon honeybees is much 
less prevalent than has been supposed, and probably does not result in any 
great damage; and (3) that the vegetable food consists almost entirely of 
wild fruits which have no economic value. 
All of the kingbirds are of the greatest importance to the farmer and fruit 
grower, as they destroy vast numbers of harmful insects, and do no appreciable 
damage to any product of cultivation. 
NIGHTHAWK 
The nighthawk, or bull-bat, 65 breeds throughout most of the United States and 
Canada, and winters in South America. It is strictly insectivorous, and hence 
does no damage to crops. The only charge that can be made against the bird 
is that it destroys some useful insects, but these are greatly in the minority in 
its food. 
Nighthawks are so expert in flight that no insects can escape them. In their 
capacious mouths they sweep up everything from the largest moths and dragon 
flies to the tiniest ants and gnats, and in this way sometimes gather most 
remarkable collections of insects. Several stomachs have contained 50 or more 
different kinds, and the number of individuals ran into the thousands. 
6S Tyrannus verticalis. B4 Tyrannus vociferans. 
B5 Chordeiles minor, 
Fig. 19.—Kingbird. Length, about 8J inches. 
