84 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



his crest, and also by a white tip to his tail, which, 

 when spread in flight, has the effect of a white 

 crescent. He has a peculiar flight, holding his 

 head up and using his wings in a labored way as 

 if he were swimming. When looking for his din- 

 ner he often flutters obliquely into the air, display- 

 ing his shining white breast and fan-shaped tail 

 to the best advantage. 



All the disagreeable qualities of the flycatchers 

 seem to centre in this bird. His note is a harsh, 

 scolding twitter. His crown proclaims him king, 

 not by right, but by might, such a bickering 

 pugilist, such a domineering autocrat he is. The 

 crow's life becomes a plague when this tormentor 

 gives chase ; and the smaller birds find themselves 

 driven at the point of the bill from the fences they 

 had considered public highways. 



But whatever may be the exact limit of his 

 quarrelsomeness it stops short at home ; old king- 

 birds are certainly tender guardians of their 

 young. I once watched a pair in search of food. 

 They flew down to the haycocks in the meadow 

 near the orchard, sat there reconnoitring for a 

 moment, and then jumped into the grass to snap 

 up the insect they had discovered. Flying back 

 to the young they flirted their wings and tails as 

 they dropped the morsel into the gaping red 

 throats, and in an instant were off again for a 

 hunt in the air, or in another tree. And so they 

 kept hard at work, looking everywhere till the 



