64 BIRD WORLD. 



Spanish Armada remember how the little English 

 ships outsailed the large, unwieldy Spanish vessels, 

 ran close under their guns, fired, and were off again 

 before the Spanish ships could return the fire ; so the 

 Kingbird, mounting above the Crow, darts upon him 

 from above and flies off before the clumsy Crow can 

 strike him. 



Occasionally the Kingbird actually settles upon the 

 Crow's head or back, and rides some distance before 

 the Crow can shake him off. When you learn that 

 the Kingbird attacks all birds, great and small, who 

 come near him, and with a harsh twitter drives them 

 away, you will fancy him a very unpleasant bird to 

 have about. But you will have a greater respect for 

 him when you learn that it is only in the breeding 

 season that the Kingbird loses his temper so easily, 

 and it is but fair to say that it is only birds that 

 wander into the neighborhood of his wife and nest 

 that he drives away so rudely. 



Flycatcher was the name by which he was known, 

 for outside the swallows we have no more skilful fly- 

 catcher. From the wire on which he is sitting, the 

 post, or the mullein stalk, he flies out a short distance, 

 makes a sweep, and returns to his perch. If you are 

 near him, you hear at some time during his short jour- 

 ney a sharp click, like the snapping of a watch case. 

 That sound means death to some winged insect. All 



