The well-known eastern kingbird[51] (fig. 19) is essentially a lover of the orchard, though groves and the edge of forests were probably its original habitat. It breeds in the States east of the Rocky Mountains, and less commonly in the Great Basin and on the Pacific coast. Its hostility to hawks and crows is proverbial, and for this reason a family of kingbirds is a desirable adjunct to a poultry yard. On one occasion in the knowledge of the writer a hawk which attacked a brood of young turkeys was pounced upon and so severely buffeted by a pair of kingbirds whose nest was near by that the would-be robber was glad to escape without his prey. Song birds that nest near the kingbird are similarly protected.

The kingbird is largely insectivorous. It is a true flycatcher and takes on the wing a large part of its food. It does not, however, confine itself to this method of hunting, but picks up some insects from trees and weeds, and even descends to the ground in search of myriapods or thousand legs. The chief complaint against the species by both professional bee keepers and others has been that it preys largely upon honeybees. One bee raiser in Iowa, suspecting the kingbirds of feeding upon his bees, shot a number near his hives; but when the stomachs of the birds were examined by an expert entomologist, not a trace of honeybees could be found.

An examination of 665 stomachs collected in various parts of the country was made by the Biological Survey, but only 22 were found to contain remains of honeybees. In these 22 stomachs there were in all 61 honeybees, of which 51 were drones, 8 were certainly workers, and the remaining 2 were too badly broken to be further identified.

The insects that constitute the great bulk of the food of the bird are noxious species, largely beetles—May beetles, click beetles (the larvÆ of which are known as wire worms), weevils, which prey upon fruit and grain, and a host of others. Wasps, wild bees, and ants are conspicuous elements of the food, far outnumbering the hive bees. During summer many grasshoppers and crickets, as well as leaf hoppers and other bugs, also are eaten. In the stomachs examined were a number of robber flies—insects which prey largely upon other 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, elderberries, 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[52] is not so domestic in its habits as its eastern relative, preferring to live among scattering oaks on lonely hillsides, rather than in orchards about ranch buildings. The work it does, however, 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 resemblance 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 contents 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[53] has a more southerly range than the Arkansas fly-catcher. Examination of a number 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 cent consists of insects, mostly injurious 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.