48 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



boy told me were kingbirds. At these my bro- 

 ther and I — both of us small enough to be ex- 

 cusable for such mischief — were in the habit of 

 throwing green apples ; partly to see how near 

 we could come to hitting them, partly for the 

 fun of watching them rise into the air, circle 

 about with sharp cries, and then settle back upon 

 the perches they had left. Sometimes we stuck 

 the half -grown apple on the end of a stick, swung 

 the stick round our heads, and sent the apple 

 flying to a tremendous distance. Stick or no 

 stick, however, we were in no danger of killing 

 anything, as I am glad now to remember. 



What amazed us was that the birds did not go 

 away. No matter how long we " appled " them, 

 they were certain to be on hand the next day in 

 the same place. We must have been very young 

 and very green, — greener even than the apples, 



— for it never occurred to us that the birds had 

 nests in the trees, and for that reason were not 

 to be driven away by our petty persecutions. 



Even then I noticed the peculiar flight of the 

 birds — the short, quick strokes of their wings, 

 and their habit of hovering. These are among 

 the signs by whicH the kingbird can be recog- 

 nized a long way off. He is dark-colored above, 



— almost black, — pure white underneath, and 

 his tail, when outspread, shows a broad white 



