The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-09

lust as there are very estimable and interesting people who neither play the guitar nor write poetry. so there are birds which have not the gift of song but whieh nevertheless claim our at tention and deserve our praise and ao- miration, says W. L. Webb in the Kan sas City Star. There are hundreds of birds which cannot be ciassed as warb- lers. Yet they enllven the woods With their calls, their labors, their amuse- ments, their ceaseless activities and of- ten their tragic deaths Many Of the songless birds are more interesting than the singers. nature having conferred other gifts upon them. in compensation, 1t would seem, for the lack of song. The wildwoods would be far less en- chanting to the visitor were the feather ed tenants restricted to the songsters The songless birds add much to the en- tertainment and the instruction of all who seek pleasure in the painless woods
 The bee martin has received modi- cum of praise and a flood of abuse. He is one of the best known birds of this country. He has been called tyrant kingbird, bee eater, etc. Each of these names is a misnomer. He Is brave bird but not tyrant. He is a master full bird, but he has no right to the crown of sovereign. He is not king at all; neither is he a rapacious bee eater This bird has not had a fair hearing at the bar of public opinion.
 The bee martin is a very pretty bird. slightly smaller than the catbird, blu ish gray above and white beneath. The extreminty of his tail feathers Is bor- dered with a ribbon of white, which shows prettily when he is on the wing. There is considerable white about the wings. and considerable black about the head. On the back of his head there is a spot of orange red. It was said for merly that the red spot was used to intice bees to come near. It was sup posed that bees would mistake the glow ing spot for a flower, and come near enough to be caught. The existence of that red spot has been the pretext for the slaughter of many an innocent bee martin. It is now known that the bee martin eats very few bees. Sometimes he picks up few drones when they have been driven from the hive and are roaming about the upper air. This is about the extent of the sins of the bee martin.
 Is Quarrelsome.
 The bee martin is rather quarrelsome in the early spring when his nest is new, and he foolishly thinks 1t is the only nest in the world. He has a special an tipathv for the crow and the hawk. His ability to beat these large birds from the neighborhood of his nest has prob ably earned him the title of king. The bee martin Is exceedingly active on the wing. He can fly all around a crow or a hawk which make no attempt to re- sent his attacks. They simply get away as fast as possible. The bee martin will fight an English sparrow as viciously as he does the crow He gets along very we'll with the catbird, for whose fighting qualities he has a very whole- some respect A battle between these two is a battle royal for neither is afraid and neither is apr 10 give up. The bee martin is a good fighter. not be- cause he's more pugnacious than other birds. but because of his superior fly ing abilities l. have seen him fly up- ward for distance of thirty or forty feet to capture an Insect. Few birds could do that. Such powers of flight give him an advantage in mid-air fight
 The bee martin builds rather bulky nest. and the eggs are very handsome.