A moment afterwards , a bird came flying towards him , and hovered in the air , so as almost to brush his face with its wings . It was a very pretty little bird , with purple wings and body , and yellow legs , and a circle of golden feathers round its neck , and on its head a golden tuft , which looked like a king 's crown in miniature . Ulysses tried to catch the bird . But it fluttered nimbly out of his reach , still chirping in a piteous tone , as if it could have told a lamentable story , had it only been gifted with human language . And when he attempted to drive it away , the bird flew no farther than the bough of the next tree , and again came fluttering about his head , with its doleful chirp , as soon as he showed a purpose of going forward . `` Have you anything to tell me , little bird ? '' asked Ulysses . And he was ready to listen attentively to whatever the bird might communicate ; for , at the siege of Troy , and elsewhere , he had known such odd things to happen , that he would not have considered it much out of the common run had this little feathered creature talked as plainly as himself . `` Peep ! '' said the bird , `` peep , peep , pe -- weep ! '' And nothing else would it say , but only , `` Peep , peep , pe -- weep ! '' in a melancholy cadence , and over and over and over again . As often as Ulysses moved forward , however , the bird showed the greatest alarm , and did its best to drive him back , with the anxious flutter of its purple wings . Its unaccountable behavior made him conclude , at last , that the bird knew of some danger that awaited him , and which must needs be very terrible , beyond all question , since it moved even a little fowl to feel compassion for a human being . So he resolved , for the present , to return to the vessel , and tell his companions what he had seen . This appeared to satisfy the bird . As soon as Ulysses turned back , it ran up the trunk of a tree , and began to pick insects out of the bark with its long , sharp bill ; for it was a kind of woodpecker , you must know , and had to get its living in the same manner as other birds of that species . But every little while , as it pecked at the bark of the tree , the purple bird bethought itself of some secret sorrow , and repeated its plaintive note of `` Peep , peep , pe -- weep ! '' On his way to the shore , Ulysses had the good luck to kill a large stag by thrusting his spear into his back . Taking it on his shoulders -LRB- for he was a remarkably strong man -RRB- , he lugged it along with him , and flung it down before his hungry companions .
I have already hinted to you what gormandizers some of the comrades of King XXXXX were .
Ulysses air back chirp feathers insects spear tone tuft vessel