UTILITY OF BIRDS TO AGRICULTURE. 113 



Samuels calls it. This species destroys great numbers of night 

 insects. About the middle or last of May the night hawk com- 

 mences the duties of incubation, laying two eggs on the bare 

 ground, often on a rock, with no nest. They are a dirty-white 

 color, marked with spots of brown. 



Tyrannus Carolinensis— Baird. 

 King bird, Bee Martin. — This is a very common summer in- 

 habitant of New England, there being a pair or two nesting on 

 almost every farm. The nest is placed in a fork of a limb, 

 generally of an apple-tree. It is composed externally of coarse 

 moss and roots, and lined with fine roots and horse hair. Eggs 

 are laid about the last of May ; are a delicate white color, spot- 

 ted all over with brown and lavender. To all but bee-keepers 

 this bird is a firm friend, but it must be acknowledged that it 

 destroys a large number of bees whenever it has an opportunity. 

 But other winged insects are also destroyed, and therefore this 

 bird is beneficial to the farmer. 



Satornis fuscus — Baird. 



Pewee, Phcebe Bird. — This well-known little bird arrives 

 from the South very early in the season, often as early as the 

 middle of March, when we see it perched on the picket of a 

 fence before our window, or on a limb overhanging a stream of 

 water, eagerly watching for the appearance of some insect ; and 

 now with a quick dart it secures its prey, and returns to its 

 perch to break and eat it. This bird usually places its nest un- 

 der a bridge, or in a shed or barn cellar. It is builo of roots, 

 grasses and moss plastered together with mud, and lined with 

 soft grasses and wool and feathers. The eggs are four or five 

 in number, of a beautiful pure-white color. 



Contopus vtrens — Cabanis. 



Wood Pewee. — This bird resembles the preceding in many 

 respects, but is not nearly so well known, as it is only found in 

 the deep woods. It builds a most beautiful nest upon a decayed 

 limb. This is formed almost entirely of the different lichens, 

 together with a few grasses and fine roots. Eggs are four in 

 number, of a delicate cream color, spotted at greater end with 

 blotches of dark brown. 



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