TYRANT FLYCATCHER. 
55 
water, and diving 1 about in the air like a swallow ; for 
lie 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 
depredations 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 pumpkins. These noxious 
insects are the daily food of this bird ; and he destroys, 
upon a very moderate average, some hundreds of them 
daily. The death of every king bird is therefore an 
actual loss to the farmer, by multiplying the numbers of 
destructive insects, and encouraging the depredations 
of crows, hawks, and eagles, who avoid as much as 
possible his immediate vicinity. For myself, I must 
say, that the king bird possesses no common share of 
my regard. I honour this little bird for his extreme 
affection for his young ; for his contempt of danger, and 
unexampled intrepidity ; for his meekness of behaviour 
when there are no calls on his courage, a quality which 
even in the human race is justly considered so noble : 
In peace there ’s nothing so becomes a man 
As modest stillness and humility ; 
But when the blast of war, &c. 
but above all, I honour and esteem this bird for the 
millions of ruinous vermin which he rids us of; whose 
depredations, in one season, but for the services of this 
and other friendly birds, would far overbalance all the 
produce of the bee-hives in fifty. 
As a friend to this persecuted bird, and an enemy to 
prejudices of every description, will the reader allow 
me to set this matter in a somewhat clearer light, by 
presenting him with a short poetical epitome of the 
king bird’s history ? 
