24 
FARMERS' BULLETIN 630. 
insects, especially honeybees, and which are known to. commit in this way 
extensive depredations. It is thus evident that the kingbird by destroying 
these flies actually does good work for the apiarist. The 26 robber flies found 
in the stomachs may be considered more than an equivalent for the 8 worker 
honeybees 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 1 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 take to identify every insect or fragment that had any resem¬ 
blance to a honeybee; as a result, 
30 honeybees were identified, of 
which 29 were males or drones and 1 
a worker. These were contained in 
four stomachs, and were the sole con¬ 
tents 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 habitual; 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 2 has a more 
southerly range than the Arkansas 
fly-catcher. 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 
Fig. 19.—Kingbird. Length, about 8i inches, cent consists of insects, mostly inju¬ 
rious 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 3 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. 
Niglithawks 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. 
1 Tyrannus verticalis. 
2 Tyrannus vociferous. 
3 Chordeiles virginianus. 
