Songs of the Fields 



is their throne-room. So ablj'- do tliey defend it 

 that never in all my life have I seen a pair con- 

 quered or their nest despoiled. Tlie king is not 

 such a large bird — smaller than a r(jbin, of robin- 

 gray, with a Avhite throat and black tail having a 

 white tip; but he is stoutly built, jjlump, and pugil- 

 istic, and of trulj' remarkable agility on wing. lie 

 has a smoky, black, rounding crest, and wings of 

 the same color. Kingbirds give their young the 

 worms that feed on grass blades, small flies, and 

 moths that flutter close to the ground. They per- 

 form a variety of acrobatics on wing in search of 

 food, poising over orchard and meadow hunting 

 pre}% and darting after it in headlong flight, with 

 indescribable turnings and twistings of tireless 

 wings. 



This habit of food-catcliing in air prepares 

 them for the liattles they wage on wing, for so 

 agile are they, so hardy, and of such unfaltering 

 courage, that they attack anything threatening 

 their nests. I have seen them chase crows, dusky 

 falcons, and in one case a large ha^k, in pell-mell 

 flight across the sky, and their deft twistings en- 

 abled them to escape unharmed, while they darted 

 savagely at heads and eyes and put their enemies 

 completely to rout. With any bird close their own 

 size — a meM'ling catbird or a jay wanting a newly- 

 hatched nestling for desert — they make quick dis- 

 posal. 



261 



