TYRANT FLYCATCHER. 
129 
Purple Martin^ one whose food and disposition is pretty similar to his 
own ; but who has greatly the advantage of hirn on wing, in eluding all his 
attacks, and teasing him as he pleases. I have also seen the Red-headed 
Woodpecker, while clinging on a rail of the fence, amuse himself with 
the violence of the King-bird, and play bo-peep with him round the rail, 
while the latter, highly irritated, made every attempt as he swept from 
side to side to strike him, but in vain. All this turbulence, however, 
vanishes as soon as his young are able to shift for' themselves ; and he 
is then as mild and peaceable as any other bird. 
But he has a worse habit than all these ; one much more obnoxious 
to the husbandman, and often fatal to himself. He loves, not the honey, 
but the bees; and, it must be confessed, is frequently on the look-out 
for these little industrious insects. He plants himself on a post of the 
fence, or on a small tree in the garden, not far from the hives, and 
thence sallies on them as they pass and repass, making great havoc 
among their numbers. His shrill twitter, so near to the house, gives 
intimation to the farmer of wbat is going on, and the gun soon closes 
his career for ever. Man arrogates to himself, in this case, the exclu- 
sive privilege of murder ; and after putting thousands of these same 
little insects to death, seizes on the fruits of their labor. 
The King-birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the twentieth of April, 
sometimes in small bodies of five and six together, and are at first very 
silent, until they begin to pair, and build their nest. This generally 
takes place about the first week in May. The nest is very often built 
in the orchard, on the horizontal branch of an apple tree ; frequently 
also, as Catesby observes, on a sassafras tree, at no great height from 
the ground. The outside consists of small slender twigs, tops of withered 
flowers of the plant yarrow, and others, well wove together with tow 
and wool ; and is made large, and remarkably firm and compact. It is 
usually lined with fine dry fibrous grass, and horse hair. The eggs are 
five, of a very pale cream color, or dull white, marked with a few large 
spots of deep purple, and other smaller ones of light brown, chiefly, 
though not altogether, towards the great end (See Fig. 1). They gene- 
rally build twice in the season. 
The King-bird is altogether destitute of song, having only the shrill 
twitter above mentioned. He usual mode of flight is singular. The 
vibrations of his broad wings, as he moves slowly over the fields, re- 
semble 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 take8 
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 gad-fly, so terrifying to horses and cattle. His eye 
Vol. II.— 9 
