138 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
dred of them. On looking into their stomachs 
to see if they had eaten honey bees, he found 
them filled with drones. They had been working 
for him all the time, for every bee-keeper likes to 
have drones killed. 
It has been said that the kingbird is annoying 
to other birds, and he is called a tyrant. I 
wanted to know if this was true. I did not go to 
books to find out, for many people—as I have 
told you — do not study for themselves, but 
repeat what some one else has said. The way I 
took to find out was to notice the ways of every 
kingbird I could see. For many years I have 
watched them hours at a time, for weeks to- 
gether. I spend every summer among the birds, 
and almost everywhere I go I find kingbirds. 
In this way I have found out that the king- 
bird is one of the most peaceable of birds. He 
drives strangers away from the tree where his 
nest is, and so does every other bird. The crow 
he seems to consider his enemy, and often flies 
after him, but excepting that, I have never 
seen a kingbird disturb any bird who was mind- 
ing his own business. He is not half so much 
of a tyrant as the robin or the hummingbird. 
The kingbird is quiet and devoted to his 
family. He seems never to tire of catching in- 
sects. While young ones are in the nest, he may 
