104 
INSESSORES. 
Summer his jealous and quarrelsome disposition is 
most apparent. While his mate is occupied with her 
domestic concerns, he is ever watchful for the appear- 
ance of intruders, and any attempt to be sociable is 
repelled with little ceremony. The Eagle, the Hawk, 
and the Crow, although greatly his superiors in size 
and strength, are equally the objects of his animosity, 
and no sooner does one of them make his appearance, 
than our hero sallies forth to give him battle; and 
mounting above him, he darts down upon his back 
with the swiftness of an arrow, and by repeated pecks 
with his sharp, powerful bill, from which his less 
active foe finds it difficult to escape, he soon remains 
master of the field, having driven the intruder quite 
out of the neighborhood. There is, however, one 
bird, which, although no larger nor stronger than him- 
self, has often proved too much for him ; this is the 
Purple Martin. His superior quickness upon the 
wing enables him to evade the sharp blows of the 
King Bird’s bill, and very frequently to get the mas- 
tery of him and drive him off ; sometimes a long and 
obstinate contest between them ends in the death of 
the latter. 
Notwithstanding the fondness of the King Bird 
for.bees and sometimes for fruit, he is among the best 
of the farmer’s friends. No Hawk will venture near 
a barn-vard while he is about, while the swarms of 
noxious insects which he daily destroys, together with 
other little services for wdiich we are indebted to him, 
strongly recommend him to our special care and pro- 
tection. 
