e nest The morning chill was yet in the air, so it was a
little early for the flies which formed his food to be stirring. But
he was hungry, and on the alert for the first of them to appear. Only
the tense feathers of his crest, raised to show the flame-orange spot
which was his kingly crown, betrayed his eagerness; for he was a
self-contained bird. The sun was just beginning to show the red
topmost edge of his rim through the jagged line of firs across the
river, and the long, level streaks of aerial rose, creeping under the
branches, filled all the shadowed places of the wilderness with
mysterious light. The eastward sides of the tree-trunks and naked
branches glimmered pink; and dew-wet leaves, here and there, shone
like pale jewels of pink, amber, and violet. The mirror-like surface
of the river was blurred with twisting spirals of mist, silvery and
opalescent, through which the dim-seen figure of a duck in straight
flight shot like a missile.

As the king-bird sat erect on his branch, watching with bright eyes
the miracle of the morning, an over-adventurous dragon-fly arose from
a weed-top below him and flew into the rosy light. The bird darted
straight and true, zigzagged sharply as the victim tried to dodge,
caught the lean prize in his beak, and carried it very gallantly to
his mate upon the nest. Then he fluttered back to his post on the
branch.

As the sun got up over the hill, and the warmth dried their wings, the
intervale began to hum softly with dancing flies and hurrying
beetles, and the king-bird was continually on the move, twittering
with soft monotony (his sole attempt at song), between each successful
sally. At length the female rose from her eggs, stood on the edge of
the nest, and gave an impatient call. Her mate flew down to take her
place, and the two perched side by side, making a low chirping sound
in their throats.

Just at this moment a small black snake, warmed into activity and
hunger by the first rays of the sun, glided to the tree and began to
climb. Bird's-nesting was the black snake's favourite employment; but
it had not stopped to consider that the nest in this particular tree
was a king-bird's. It climbed swiftly and noiselessly, and the
preoccupied birds did not get glimpse of it till it was within two
feet of the nest.

There was no time for consultation in the face of this peril. Like
lightning the two darted down upon the enemy, buffeting its head with
swift wing-strokes. Th