ipapular JOirtionary of gmmatrlr $aturr. 715 



1 next has less of the white at the tip ; these 



gradually lengthen to the four middle ones, 



which arc wholly dnrk slate ; all of them 



taper towards the points, the middle ones 



most so. The female is an inch shorter, 



wants the rich silky blue on the crown, and 



has altogether less brilliancy of colour. The 



flesh of this bird is considered much superior 



; to that of the wild pigeon ; but its seeming 



i confidence in man, the tenderness of its 



I notes, and the imiocency attached to its 



character, are, with many, its security and 



i protection. 



j TUSSOCK [MOTHS]. A name given by 

 collectors to Moths of the genera Dasydiira 



Ull'l I > nlll.-t. 



I TUYUYTJ. A local name for the Mjicteria 

 \ Americana, a Grallatorial bird, which when 

 I full-grown is upwards of B!X feet in height. 

 ' Its general plumage is white ; its neck is 

 bare of feathers, and, for two-thirds of its 

 < length from above, black : the remainder is 

 of u dark red. Its hill is about fifteen inches 

 long, and by its habit of striking the mandi- 

 bles together a loud clattering noise is pro- 

 : duced. Though shy and difficult to be got 

 1 at, they are occasionally domesticated. 



! TYRANT FLYCATCHER, or KING- 

 BIRD. (.Tyrannusintrepidus.) This very sin- 

 gular species of a group of Passerine birds, 

 known as the Flycatchers, has received its 

 trivial names of tyrant and king, from its 

 extraordinary behaviour, and the authority 

 it assumes over all others, during the time 

 of breeding. It is eight inches long, and 

 fourteen in extent ; the general colour above 

 is a dark slaty ash ; the head and tail are 

 nearly black ; the latter even at the end, and 

 tipt with white ; the wings are of a brownish 

 cast i the quills and wing-coverts are edged 

 with dull white i the throat, and all the rest 

 of the lower parts, are pure white ; the plu- 

 mage on the crown (though not forming a 

 crest) is frequently erected, and discovers a 

 rich bed of brilliant orange, which when the 

 feathers lie close, is altogether concealed. 

 The bill is very broad at the base, overhang- 

 ing at the point, and notched, of a glossy 

 black colour, and furnished with bristles at 

 the base ; the legs and feet are black, seamed 

 with gray. The female differs chiefly in 

 being of a. browner cast on the upper parts, 

 and having a narrower border of duller 

 white on the tail. In the breeding season, 

 as we are told by Wilson, in his American 

 Ornithology,' the Tyrant Flycatcher's ex- 

 treme affection for his mate, and for his nest 



and young, makes him suspicious of every 

 bird that happens to pass near his residence, 

 so that he attacks, without discrimination, 

 every intruder. In the months of May, 

 June, and part of July, his life is one con- 

 tinued scene of broils and battles ; in which, 

 however, he generally comes otf conqueror. 

 Hawks and crows, the bald eagle, and the 

 great black eagle, all equally dread a ren- 

 counter with this dauntless little champion, 

 who, as soon as he perceives one of these last 



e air t. 



height 

 him, and darts down on his back, sometimes \ dnily food of this bird 



fixing there to the great annoyance of his 

 sovereign, who, if no convenient retreat or 

 resting-place be near, endeavours by various 

 evolutions to rid himself of his n.erciless 

 adversary. But the King-bird is not BO easily 

 dismounted. He teazcs the eagle incessantly, 

 sweeps upon him from ritfht and left, rc- 



(1THAHNOB INTRKPIUU8.) 



mounts, that he may descend on his back 

 with the greater violence ; all the while 

 keeping up a shrill nnd rapid twittering ; 

 and continuing the attack sometimes for 

 more than a mile, till he is relieved by some 

 other of his tribe equally eager for the con- 

 test All his turbulence, however, 



vanishes as soon as his young are able to 

 shift for thenuelves ; and he is then as mild 

 and peaceable as any other bird." 



His usual mode of flight is singular. The 

 vibrations of his broad wings (says this ob- 



(says 

 te wi 



serving writer, whom we quote with slight 

 deviations), as he moves slowly over the 

 fields, resemble those of a hawk hovering 

 and settling in the air to reconnoitre the 

 ground below ; and the object of the King- 

 bird is no doubt something similar, viz. to 

 look out for passing insects, either in the air, 

 or among the flowers and blossoms below 

 him. In fields of pasture he often takes his 

 stand on the tops of the mullein, nnd other 

 rank weeds, near the cattle, and makes occa- 

 sional sweeps after passing insects, particu- 

 larly the large black gadfly, so terrifying to 

 horses and cattle. His eye moves restlessly 

 around him, traces the flight of an insect for 

 a moment or two, then that of a second, and 

 even a third, until he perceives one to his 

 liking, when, with a shrill sweep, he pursues, 

 seizes it, and returns to the same spot again, 

 to look out for more. This habit is so con- 

 spicuous when he is watching the bee-hive, 

 that many intelligent persons are of opinion 

 that he jacks out only the drones, and never 

 injures the working bees. Be this as it may, 

 he certainly gives a preference to one bee, 

 and one species of insect, over another. . . . 

 Whatever antipathy may prevail against 

 him for depredations on the drones, or, if 



you will, on the bees, this bird is greatly the 



who, as soon as he perceives one of these last . farmer's friend, in destroying multitudes of 

 approaching, launches into the air to meet ] insects, whose larvae prey on the harvests of 

 him, mounts to a considerable height above j his fields. These noxious insects are the 



and )e destroys, 



