# The Kingbird - Source: McGuffey's Second Reader (second-reader.gutenberg.org), Public domain, William Holmes McGuffey, 1879, via Project Gutenberg - Reading level: Grades 1 and 2 - Subjects: Animals - Topics: eagle, flies, kingbird, near, nest, strikes - Length: 195 words, about 1 min - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: THE KINGBIRD. - The kingbird is not bigger than a robin. - He eats flies, and worms, and bugs, and berries. - He builds his nest in a tree, near some house. - When there are young ones in the nest, he sits on the top of a tree near them. - He watches to see that no bird comes to hurt them or their mother. - If a hawk, a crow, or even an eagle comes near, he makes a dash at it. - Though he is so small, he is brave, and he is also very active. - He never fails to drive off other birds from his nest. - He flies around and around the eagle, and suddenly strikes him with his sharp bill. - He strikes at his eye, and then darts away before the eagle can catch him. - Or he strikes from behind, and is off again before the eagle can turn round. - In a short time, the great eagle is tired of such hard blows, and flies away. He is very glad to get rid of his foe. - Is not the little fellow a brave bird? - Because he can drive off all other birds, he is called the KINGBIRD. ## Picture credits - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain ()