BIRDS THAT KEEP ORDER 135 



time people who are fond of reading about 

 birds, even if they have never been to America, 

 have known of this brave little bird by name. 



He has, indeed, given a name to all his 

 relations, for he was originally called the 

 tyrant-bird in scientific books, and all the 

 family to which he belongs are called tyrants, 

 though some of them are little insignificant 

 creatures enough. 



The king -bird himself is much like our 

 fly-catcher in shape and habits, but twice as 

 large, and is much more handsomely coloured, 

 being nearly black above and white under- 

 neath, with a splash of orange-red for a crown 

 to mark his royal dignity. He is not really 

 a tyrant, for he does not bully harmless birds, 

 which, I am sorry to say, the black king-crow 

 sometimes does, now and then stealing from 

 them insects they have caught, or even catch- 

 ing a very little bird itself and eating it. The 

 king-bird only " goes for " the birds of prey, 

 and he does not respect any of them, even the 

 great white-headed eagle, which is the national 

 emblem of America, as most of my readers will 

 know. 



Indeed, Benjamin Franklin gave this as 



