BIRDS OF THE AIR. 173 



It is amusing to watch his movements when flying. 

 He sails rapidly along the air with but little motion of 

 his outspread wings, save the vibrations of his extended 

 feathers, all the time screaming with a sharp and rapid 

 twitter. You observe this habit of the bird at short dis- 

 tances from the ground, when pursuing an insect. Upon 

 seizing it he returns immediately to his post. He is 

 watchini>- all the while for the lari^er insects. He will 

 not quit his perch, upon a fence, the branch of a tree, 

 or a mullein-stalk, to catch small flies. He leaves all 

 minute insects to the Swallows and small Flycatchers. 

 The farmers complain of him as a bee-eater, whence the 

 name of Bee-^Iartin which is often applied to him. 

 Some observers say he discriminates between the differ- 

 ent kinds of bees, selecting only the drones for his re- 

 past. But among the offences charged against him, he 

 is never accused of stealinsj rrrain or fruit. Hence he is 

 seldom molested, and enjoys great security compared 

 with many other equally useful birds. 



The Kingbird has not much beauty of plumage ; but he 

 is so neatly marked with black and white, with a bluish 

 color above, and a white band at the extremity of his dark 

 tail-feathers, and he displays his form and plumage so 

 gracefully in his vibrating flights, that he cannot escape 

 notice. The crest, containin^^ a vermilion centre, is 

 hardly discernible, save when the bird is excited, when 

 it is slightly elevated. The Kingbird more frequently 

 builds in an orchard than in a wood, an open cultivated 

 place being more productive of those insects which afford 

 him subsistence. 



THE PEAVEE. 



If we stroll at any hour of the day in summer and 

 sit under a rustic bridue for coolness or shelter, while 



