FOREIGN BEES. 285 



a small quantity of honey-comb, and draws round it 

 a circle of white paint. The bee, on approaching the 

 honey, is necessitated generally to cross the circular 

 line, and, of course, its body becomes bedaubed with 

 the colouring matter, and the direction of its route 

 when flying is thereby easily ascertained. The stra- 

 tagem is repeated at some distance to the right or 

 left of the first station, and the direction of the flight 

 again marked. As the bee always flies in a direct 

 line to her nest, it will be found where the two lines 

 of flight intersect each other. Another mode con- 

 sists in placing at the favourite resorts of the bees, a 

 piece of reed or tube of some kind, having one of its 

 ends closed up : Into this they are enticed by the 

 smell of a little honey, previously deposited within. 

 The hunter, when a sufficient number has entered, 

 seizes the reed, and claps his thumb on the open end. 

 He then allows one of the captives to escape, and fol- 

 lows the direction in which it flies ; when it is out of 

 sight, he releases another, and another in succession, 

 continuing the pursuit till, by the aid of these guides, 

 he reaches the prize. 



The bee in North America has to encounter, 

 amongst the feathered tribe, an enemy still more 

 formidable than the honey-hunter. This is the King- 

 bird, or Tyrant Flycatcher, (Muscicapa Tyrannus, 

 PL XXVI.) found in both the southern and northern 

 states of the Union, and which, according to Mr. 

 Hector St. John, is so fell an enemy to the honey- 

 gathering tribes, that upon dissecting one which he 

 had shot, he took from its crop as many as 171 



