418 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
28-October 24, in Colfax County, 56 per cent was grasshoppers (Kalmbach)— 
and beetles, mostly noxious species, 14 per cent. “The small cicada ... is a 
favorite food. This bird should be strictly preserved” (Beal, 1912, p. 22). 
General Habits. —The light gray, yellow-bellied Arkansas is a 
typical kingbird, forceful, dominant, noisy, with a high-keyed, shrill 
voice and an impatient emphasis. Kee-ah , kee-kee kee-ah is one of his 
cries, and in the coyote country in early morning the iteration sometimes 
suggests the distant yapping of the wolf. The cries of the Arkansas are 
often heard overhead as he flies with quick-beating wings or, claw to 
claw with a rival, descends through the air. Speaking of his disposition 
Major Bendire says, “frequently half a dozen of these birds may be 
seen chasing each other about, pecking at and tumbling over each other 
in midair, keeping up an incessant chatter and scolding in the meantime; 
but very rarely have I seen feathers fly during these ostensible combats, 
and I am inclined to think the majority of such performances are 
indulged in more in fun than in anger” (1895, p. 246). 
The two western kingbirds—the Arkansas and the Cassin—are often 
seen in the air together, as at our Aguanigra Chiquita camp near Santa 
Rosa, where they were both building on June 3, 1903, and the Cassin 
drove the Arkansas off its premises. While both birds are gray, with 
yellow bellies and black tails, when seen together in this way their 
differences come out clearly, the Arkansas being the more distinctly 
marked, its gray body being much lighter, its tail a keener black. 
Two pairs of the light-gray Arkansas were building near camp, one in 
a large cottonwood beside the Aguanigra and the other in a juniper under 
the cliff. Both male and female were working on the juniper nest and 
after being gone for some time would come with a bill full of wool and 
pitch over the cliff to the tree, though they used some care in alighting 
on the stiff branches surrounding the nest. 
An oddly located nest was later found in a narrow gulch under the 
wall of the Staked Plains, near Montoya, cleverly placed in a charred 
stub in a burned out cup just the right size to hold it. Made of grass and 
fine sticks, it was lined with wool, often found conveniently at hand in 
that sheep country. The trustful bird stayed near by while we examined it. 
Another brooding bird was discovered on her nest in a yucca—on the 
dry capsules of the previous year’s fruit stalk—close beside the road, at 
Lordsburg. Though nervous when we stopped to photograph the inter¬ 
esting nest, she apparently dared not leave it exposed to the sun, and 
while shifting about uneasily and stretching her neck to look down at us 
anxiously, managed to keep between the sun and her treasures. 
From Mesilla Park, Professor Merrill wrote: “The noisy Arkansas 
Kingbird is the most numerous of the Tyrannidae . . . and is much in 
evidence all over the valley. It goes onto the mesa mainly to feed and is 
found in much fewer numbers in the mountains. The nests are placed 
