288 SUMMER. 



ARE All. THE BIRDS GI-LTtI 



But for some of the birds accused of preying upon 

 bees, I would say a word. 



KING-BIRD ONE WORD IN HIS FAVOR. 



The king-bird stands at the head of the list of 

 depredators ! With a fair trial he will be found guilty, 

 though not so heinously criminal as many suppose. I 

 think we shall find him guilty of taking only the drones. 

 In the afternoon of a fair day he may be seen perched 

 upon some dry,branch of a shrub or tree near the 

 apiary, watching for his victims, occasionally darting 

 to seize them. I have shot him' down and examined 

 his crop, after seeing him devour a goodly number ; 

 but in every instance the bees were so crushed to 

 pieces; that it was impossible to distinguish workers 

 from drones. We are told of great numbers of work- 

 ers being counted. It may be so, or it may be thus 

 represented by a spice of prejudice. I have found 

 the brutal gratification of taking life so stropg witii 

 some, that a natural antipathy is allowed to take the 

 place of justice, and a proper defence is not allowed 

 in such cases where the suffering party has not the 

 power to enforce it. If he was satisfied with workers 

 as well as drones, why does he not visit the apiary 

 long before noon, and fill his crop with them ? But 

 instead, he waits till afternoon for the drones ; and if 

 none are flying, he watches quietly till one appears, 

 although workers may be out by hundreds continu- 

 ally. If the question is asked, how they tell the dif- 

 ference in the two kinds of bees, I might suggest that 



