“But do not try to write anything down while we are driving over this rough road; the surrey jolts too much.  You need only listen now, and Olive will help you with your note-books to-morrow.”

THE KINGBIRD

“How the winged insects must hate a Kingbird, who is a real tyrant over them, and must seem very cruel!” continued the Doctor.  “He sits on a rail or wire, and suddenly—­flip, snap! a fly is caught—­flip, snap! a wasp dies.  All day long he is waging war, and helping us in our never-ending battle with the bugs.

“If he happens to fancy a rose-bug or juicy ant, he dashes to the leaf or grass-blade on which the insect is crawling, hovers a moment in the air to take aim, and then snatches the bug off.  So clever is he that when he eats bees, as he sometimes does, he seldom takes the honey-makers, but mainly the drones; perhaps he is afraid of being stung.”

“What is a drone, Uncle Roy?” asked Dodo.

“A bee which does not work for its living and cannot sting.”

“The Kingbird is proud of his nest, which he often confides to a maple on the edge of a garden, or to your pet pear tree.  But let Hawks and Crows beware even of thinking about a Kingbird’s nest!  For he loves his home, and hates those who would injure it; and what is more, he is not one bit afraid of them.  If they come in sight he attacks them bravely, and drives them far away, even if they are so big and fierce that he has to call his friends to help him; so that the robber Crow or cannibal bird is lucky if he does not lose an eye before he escapes.

[Illustration:  Kingbird.]

“But the Kingbird is not quarrelsome—­simply very lively; he is the very picture of dash and daring in defending his home, and when he is teaching his youngsters how to fly.

“Like other insect-eaters, he leaves the northerly States before cold weather and journeys beyond the United States for the winter.  We always miss him when he has swooped along the fence rail for the last time and joined his brethren in the tree-tops, where the flocks form for their long flight.”

The Kingbird

Length eight inches—­about the size of a Wood Thrush.

Upper parts slate-colored, with black head, wings, and tail; a white band at the end of the tail, and a flaming orange spot on the crown.

Under parts pure white, a little grayish on the breast.

A Summer Citizen of the United States and Canada, travelling to Central and South America for the winter.

One of the best neighbors, and a brave soldier.  An officer of the guild of Sky Sweepers, also a Ground Gleaner and Tree Trapper, killing robber-flies, ants, beetles, and rose-bugs.  A good friend to horses and cattle, because he kills the terrible gadflies.  Eats a little fruit, but chiefly wild varieties, and only now and then a bee.