it in specimens or books; but should it really exist in nature, it may deservedly
bear the name of T. Vieillotii.—Sw.
The well known King-bird is common on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and
ranges in summer to the fifty-seventh parallel of latitude, or beyond it. It arrives
at Carlton-house early in May, and retires, after having reared its young, in the
beginning of September, wintering to the southward even of Georgia. It is
seen during summer in all parts of the United States, and breeds in Pennsylvania,
and most probably in all the intermediate districts to the middle of the
fur countries. Its jealousy of the intrusion of other birds into its haunts in
the breeding season, and the boldness and activity with which it attacks and
drives off even the biggest and fiercest of the birds of prey, has been well described
by Catesby, and other writers on American Natural History, but by none with the
minuteness, truth, and poetical feeling of Wilson. It is of the King-bird that
Mr. Drummond speaks in the following passage of a letter relating to the birds
he noticed at Carlton-house:— “ There is another small bird that deserves to be
noticed for the courage with which it attacks all others that venture near its residence
: it is a species of Fly-catcher, about the size of a lark ; and. the manner in
which it assaults a large bird is truly amusing. It soars above its opponent, and
then darting down on its back, applies its beak, with all the strength it possesses,
to its head, sometimes remaining in this position for a minute or more, and then
returns in triumph to its station on the top of some neighbouring bush or small
tree, where it resumes the occupation of watching for flies*. During the whole
of this attack it utters a shrill chattering note with great vehemence.
“ The King-birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the twentieth of April, sometimes
in small bodies of five or six together, and are at first very silent, until they
begin to pair and build their nest. This generally takes place about the first
week in May. The nest is very often built in the orchard, on the horizontal
branch of an apple-tree; frequently also, as Catesby observes, on a sassafras-tree,
at no great height from the ground. The outside consists of small slender
twigs, tops of withered flowers of the plant yarrow, and others, well wove together
with tow and wool, and is made large, and remarkably firm and compact. It is
usually lined with fine, dry, fibrous grass, and horsehair. The eggs are five, of a
very pale cream-colour, or dull white, marked with a few large spots of deep
purple, and other smaller ones of light brown, chiefly, though not altogether,
towards the great end. They generally build twice in the season.”
* Botanical Miscellany, by W. J. H ooker, ii. p. 186.
LANIAD.®. 139
“ The King-bird is altogether destitute of song, having only the shrill twitter
above mentioned. His usual mode of flight is singular: the vibrations of his broad
wings, as he moves slowly over the fields, resemble those of a hawk hovering and
settling in the air to reconnoitre the ground below; and the object of the Kingbird
is no doubt something similar; viz., to look out for passing insects, either in
the air, or among the flowers and blossoms below him. In fields of pasture, he
often takes his stand, on the tops of the mullein and other rank weeds, near the
cattle, and makes occasional sweeps after passing insects, particularly the large
black gad-fly, so terrifying to horses and cattle. His eye moves restlessly, around
him, traces the flight of an insect for a moment or two, then that of a second, and
even a third, until he perceives one to his liking, when, with a shrill sweep, he
pursues, seizes it, and returns to the same spot to look out for more. This habit
is so conspicuous when he is watching the bee-hive, that several intelligent farmers
of my acquaintance are of opinion, that he picks out only the drones, and never
injures the working bees. Be this as it may, he certainly gives a preference to
one bee, and one species of insect, over another. He hovers over the river,
sometimes for a considerable time, darting after insects that frequent such places,
snatching them from the surface of the water, and diving about in the air like a
swallow, for he possesses at will great power of wing. Numbers of them are
frequently seen thus engaged for hours together, over the rivers Delaware and
Schuylkill, in a calm day, particularly towards evening. He bathes himself by
diving repeatedly into the water from the overhanging branches of some tree,
where he sits to dry and dress his plumage *.’-'V-(Wilson, l. c.) The King-bird
preys chiefly on winged insects, and feeds also on berries of various kinds. R.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed at Carlton-house, May, 1827-
C olour of the upper aspect of the head, when the plumage is smooth, shining velvet-
black; but when the feathers are ruffled, a spot of bright orpiment-orange appears on the
erown. The dorsal aspect, in general, is blackish-grey; the ramp feathers and tail coverts
being slightly edged with white. The tail is pitch-black, tipped with white a quarter of an
inch broad. The quill feathers and greater coverts are hair-brown ; the secondaries edged
and tipped with white. The under plumage is pure white, except the breast, which is tinged
with ash-grey ; and the wing linings, which are pale greyish-brown. BUI, above and below,
pitch-black. Legs bluish-black.
» The whole of this passage is most important and interesting. It appears to me, however, much more probable
that this species, like the Tyrannus cmdelis already noticed (p. 137), dives after small fish, or aquatic insects, and
thus typifies the analogy of this family to the King-fishers among the Fimrmtres, and to the Natalorei.—i>w.