Part 19

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.3, 2-3; 10). Clutches are probably larger than the average in May and smaller in June and July.

Nests are placed in crotches, terminal forks, and some on tops of limbs, about 16 feet high, in elm, sycamore, honey locust, willow, oak, apple, and red cedar.

=Western Kingbird=: Tyrannus verticalis Say.--This summer resident is common in the west, but is local and less abundant in the east. Preferred habitat is in woodland edge, open country with scattered trees, and in towns. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13. Breeding schedule.--The 124 dates of egg-laying span the period May 11 to July 31 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15. More than 70 per cent of all clutches are laid in June.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 8).

Nests are placed in crotches, lateral forks, or on horizontal limbs, about 26 feet high, in cottonwood, elm, osage orange, hackberry, honey locust, mulberry, oak, and on power poles.

=Scissor-tailed Flycatcher=: Muscivora forficata (Gmelin).--This summer resident is common in central and southern Kansas; it is rare to absent in the northwestern sector, and is local in the northeast. Preferred habitat is in open country with scattered trees. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-eight records of breeding occur from May 21 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is June 25. The present sample of records is small, and there is otherwise no evidence suggesting that the breeding schedule of this species differs from those of the other two kingbirds in Kansas.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.2, 2-5; 17). Mean clutch-size for the first peak of laying shown in Figure 5 is 4.0 eggs; that for the second peak is 2.7 eggs.

Nests are placed in forks or on horizontal limbs of osage orange, red haw, elm, and on crosspieces of power poles, about 15 feet high (ranging from five to 35 feet).

=Great Crested Flycatcher=: Myiarchus crinitus boreus Bangs.--This summer resident is common in eastern Kansas, but is less numerous in the west. Preferred habitat is in woodland and woodland edge. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.

Breeding schedule.--The twenty-two records of egg-laying are in the period May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5. The shape of the histogram (Fig. 5) indicates that some breeding for which records are lacking occurs earlier in May.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-6; 6).

Nests are placed in hollows and crevices in elm, maple, cottonwood, willow, pear, apple, oak, drain spouts, and, occasionally, "bird houses" made by man, about 17 feet high (four to 45 feet high).

TABLE 13.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT FLYCATCHERS IN KANSAS

=================+===========================+============================ | Arrival | Departure SPECIES +-----------------+---------+-----------------+---------- | Range | Median | Range | Median -----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+---------- Eastern Kingbird | Apr. 22-Apr. 30 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 1-Sept. 24| Sept. 13 Western Kingbird | Apr. 23-Apr. 30 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 1-Sept. 26| Sept. 8 Scissor-tailed | | | | Flycatcher | Apr. 15-Apr. 28 | Apr. 18 | Sept. 21-Oct. 22| Oct. 12 Great Crested | | | | Flycatcher | Apr. 15-May 4 | Apr. 29 | Sept. 1-Sept. 21| Sept. 9 Eastern Phoebe | Mar. 3-Mar. 31 | Mar. 22 | Oct. 3-Oct. 27 | Oct. 9 Say Phoebe | Apr. 4-Apr. 22 | Apr. 12 | | Acadian | | | | Flycatcher | Apr. 30-May 19 | May 9 | Sept. 3-Sept. 17| Sept. 4 Eastern Wood | | | | Pewee | Apr. 2-May 28 | May 19 | Aug. 30-Sept. 18| Sept. 6 -----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+----------

=Eastern Phoebe=: Sayornis phoebe (Latham).--This summer resident is common in eastern Kansas, but is local in the west. Preferred habitat is in woodland edge and riparian groves, where most birds are found near bridges, culverts, or isolated outbuildings of man. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.

Breeding schedule.--The 136 records of breeding span the period March 21 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is April 25 (for first clutches) and June 5 (for second clutches); this species seems to be the only double-brooded flycatcher in Kansas.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 4 to 5 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 58). The seasonal progression in clutch-size can be summarized as follows:

March 21-April 10: 4.0 eggs (2 records) April 11-May 10: 4.4 eggs (37 records) May 11-June 10: 3.9 eggs (10 records) June 11-July 20: 3.6 eggs (9 records)

Nests are placed on horizontal, vertical, or overhanging surfaces of culverts, bridges, houses of man, earthen cliffs, rocky ledges, and entrances to caves, at an average height of 7.8 feet.

=Say Phoebe=: Sayornis saya saya (Bonaparte).--This is a common summer resident in western Kansas, breeding at least east to Cloud County, in open country. Occurrence in time is listed in Table 13.

Breeding schedule.--Ten records of breeding fall in the period May 1 to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is in late May.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs.

Nests are placed under bridges, in houses, or on cliffsides and earthen banks.

=Acadian Flycatcher=: Empidonax virescens (Vieillot).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland and riparian habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13.

Breeding schedule.--The available records of breeding by this species in Kansas are too few to indicate reliably the span of the breeding season. Information on hand suggests that Acadian Flycatchers lay most eggs in late May or early June, and this places their nesting peak some 10 to 20 days earlier than peaks for Wood Pewees and Traill Flycatchers.

Number of eggs.--Five records show 3 eggs each.

Nests are placed about six feet high on terminal twigs of oak and alder.