FLYCATCHERS: KINGBIRD 
415 
in female); back slaty, tail clear black lipped with white , lateral feathers partly edged 
with white; wings dusky with lighter edgings; underparts white , chest shaded with 
gray. Young: Like adults but without crown patch, upperparts sooty or brownish 
slate; edgings of feathers and tip of tail brownish or buffy instead of white. 
Range. —Breeds in Transition and Sonoran Zones from southern British 
Columbia, southern Mackenzie, southern Keewatin, northern Ontario, central 
Quebec, and Newfoundland (recorded from Labrador) south to central Florida, 
central Texas, eastern New Mexico, and central Oregon; winters from southern 
Mexico to Colombia and British Guiana, Peru and Bolivia. 
State Records. —The common Kingbird of the eastern United States breeds 
throughout much of Colorado and is common in the panhandle of Texas. [In New 
Mexico it occurs sparingly, though rather generally throughout the eastern and 
northeastern sections of the State where single birds were observed at various 
points, one 5 miles east of Las Vegas, August 8, and an adult feeding young out of 
the nest 6 miles northwest of Folsom, August 18, 1926 (Ligon). At Raton, a pair 
were breeding June 25-28, 1916 (Ilowarth).] It extends west to the Rio Grande 
where three were noted at Rinconada June 1, 1904 (Surber). [In Velarde, at the 
mouth of the Rio Grande Canyon about 45 miles north of Santa Fe, August 13, 
1923, two adults were seen feeding young. In Santa Fe, August 21, 1923, an adult 
was seen and since then it has frequently been found nesting in Pojaque, Cyamunge, 
Santa Cruz, and San Juan Indian Pueblo (Jensen, 1926).] It was noted June 30, 
1903, along the Pecos near Cuesta and two days later at Ribera (Bailey). In 
Colfax County it was common along the Red River, August 4, 1913 (Kalmbach). 
In the fall migration it was not rare August 10-22, 1903, at Sierra Grande about 
8,000 feet, 2,000 feet higher than part of the breeding records (Howell); and was 
common, August 29, 1913, along the Cimmaron River (Kalmbach).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. Large, cupped, compactly woven and matted with fibrous and dis¬ 
integrated vegetable substances, sometimes mixed with wool and horse hair, placed 
on a horizontal branch of a tree. Eggs: Usually 3 or 4, white, pink, or creamy, 
variously and boldly spotted or blotched with reddish and dark brown and lilac 
markings. 
Food. No less than 85 per cent of the Kingbird’s food consists of insects, 
mostly of harmful nature. It eats the common rose chafer, or rose bug, and devours 
blister beetles freely. It has been accused of eating honey bees to an injurious 
extent, but in 634 stomachs there were 61 bees, of which 51 were useless drones; 
and on the other hand it devours robber flies, which catch and destroy honey bees. 
Grasshoppers and crickets, with a few bugs, codling moth larvae, some cutworms, 
and a few other insects make up the rest of its animal food. Its vegetable food 
consists of wild fruit and a few seeds. It deserves full protection (Ilenshaw, 1911 
and 1914). 
General Habits. —At the appearance of a hawk or crow on the 
Kingbird’s breeding grounds all business, however important, is sud¬ 
denly dropped and with angry falsetto screams the outraged landlord 
starts in pursuit of the offender, even though it be a mere passerby 
across the landscape. The raven also comes in for a full share of atten¬ 
tion. One that we found at Ribera trying to rob a robin’s nest was so 
stoutly set upon by Kingbird neighbors that he finally turned tail and 
flew away. 
