The New Student's Reference Work/Kingbird



King′bird, one of the flycatchers of North America, is about eight and one half inches long, with the upper parts grayish black, the tip of the tail and under parts white. It also has a partly concealed orange-red patch on the crown. It catches insects while on the wing and is often called bee-martin and accused of killing many honey-bees. The examination of the contents of the stomach of a large number of these birds shows, however, that the mischief done in that direction has been greatly overestimated. They devour an immense number of injurious insects and relatively few honey-bees. They feed on beetles and canker-worms, as well as winged insects, and eat some berries. They are distributed generally in this country as far west as the Rockies, are common summer residents, migrate in May and September. They are usually seen in garden or orchard. Their nest is compactly built, made of grasses, weed-stalks and moss, lined with plant-down and other soft material. The three to five eggs are white marked with chocolate. The male shows great bravery in defending the eggs and nestlings from the attacks of the crow and other birds.