change the appearance of the ground and nearly 
everything on it. The rain stopped late the 
next night; but it was then so near morning, that, 
when the stars came out, they scarcely had time 
to take a good look around before daylight came. 
Then, if all the boys and girls who in school 
wore robin buttons, and belonged to the bird 
class, could have been in the garden by the apple 
trees, they would have seen the kingbirds be- 
having in a curious manner. Instead of sitting 
high on trees or fence posts, and now and then 
flying out to catch passing insects, they were 
down picking about on the ground. The reason 
for their queer actions was that the great storm 
had swept the air clear of flying gnats, and bees, 
and beetles, so for a time the only food the king- 
birds could find were the dead insects lying on 
the ground. 
Now the most terrible experience that ever 
befell the kingbird came upon him one day. He 
had just caught a particularly juicy insect of 
some kind, and flew up to a dead twig of a great 
elm tree that hung over the street. As he did so, 
he noticed that something had caught his foot. 
51 
