220 TYRANT FLYCATCHER, OR KING BIRD. 



The king bird is altogether destitute of song, having only 

 the shrill twitter above mentioned. His usual mode of flight 

 is singular. The vibrations of his broad wings, as he moves 

 slowly over the fields, resemble those of a hawk hovering and 

 settling in the air to reconnoitre the ground below ; and the 

 object of the king bird is no doubt something similar, viz., to 

 look out for passing insects, either in the air, or among the 

 flowers and blossoms below him. In fields of pasture he often 

 takes his stand on the tops of the mullein, and other rank 

 weeds, near the cattle, and makes occasional sweeps after 

 passing insects, particularly the large black gadfly, so terrify- 

 ing to horses and cattle. His eye moves restlessly around 

 him, traces the flight of an insect for a moment or two, 

 then that of a second, and even a third, until he perceives 

 one to his liking, when, with a shrill sweep, he pursues, seizes 

 it, and returns to the same spot again, to look out for more. 

 This habit is so conspicuous when he is watching the beehive, 

 that several intelligent farmers of my acquaintance are of 

 opinion that he picks out only the drones, and never injures 

 the working bees. Be this as it may, he certainly gives a 

 preference to one bee, and one species of insect, over another. 

 He hovers over the river, sometimes for a considerable time, 

 darting after insects that frequent such places, snatching 

 them from the surface of the water, and diving about in the 

 air like a swallow; for he possesses at will great powers of 

 wing. Numbers of them are frequently seen thus engaged, for 

 hours together, over the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, in a 

 calm day, particularly towards evening. He bathes himself 

 by diving repeatedly into the water from the overhanging 

 branches of some tree, where he sits to dry and dress his 

 plumage. 



Whatever antipathy may prevail against him for depreda- 

 tions on the drones, or, if you will, on the bees, I can assure 

 the cultivator that this bird is greatly his friend, in destroying 

 multitudes of insects, whose larvae prey on the harvests of his 

 fields, particularly his corn, fruit trees, cucumbers, and pump- 



