204 THE TYRANT FLYCATCHER— KING BIRD. 



least; the third longest, but the second almost equal; the fourth and fifth very- 

 little shorter; the first much longer than the seventh; tail emarginate. Upper 

 parts dull ash-grey, shaded with brown posteriorly; a concealed patch of 

 bright vermilion on the top of the head; wing-coverts, quills and tail choco- 

 late-brown, margined with brownish-white; lower parts anteriorly ash-grey, 

 behind greyish-white, tinged with yellow; lower wing-coverts pale sulphur- 

 yellow. Female similar. 

 Male, 8£, 14f. 



Agati Geandifloea. 



This leguminous plant is one of the handsomest productions of Key- West, where 

 I found it in full flower in the month of May. It reaches the height of twenty 

 feet or more, and has a rather slender but elegant stem, of which the wood is as 

 brittle as that of our common acacias. The pods are eight or nine inches in length, 

 and of the size of a Swan's quill; the seeds, which are dark brown when ripe, glossy 

 and globular, lie at regular intervals. The deep green of the long pendulous 

 leaves, and the bright red of the large papilionaceous flowers, form a beautiful 

 contrast. Many of these trees were planted near the house of my friend Dr. Ben- 

 jamin Stbobel, under whose hospitable roof the twig was drawn. I saw no plants 

 of the species on any other Key. 



THE TYRANT FLYCATCHER.— KING BIRD. 



Muscicapa tyeannus, Linn. 



PLATE L VI.— Male and Female. 



The Tyrant Flycatcher, or, as it is commonly named, the Field Martin, 

 or King Bird, is one of the most interesting visiters of the United States, 

 where it is to be found during spring and summer, and where, were its good 

 qualities appreciated as they deserve to be, it would remain unmolested. 

 But man being generally disposed to consider in his subjects a single fault 

 sufficient to obliterate the remembrance of a thousand good qualities, even 

 when the latter are beneficial to his interest, and tend to promote his com- 

 fort, persecutes the King Bird without mercy, and extends his enmity to its 

 whole progeny. This mortal hatred is occasioned by a propensity which the 

 Tyrant Flycatcher now and then shews to eat a honey-bee, which the farmer 

 looks upon as exclusively his own property. 



