SOME SKY SWEEPERS 



287 



THE PH(EBE 

 (The AVater Pewee) 



" Smaller, but not a whit less active than the King- 

 bird is the Phoebe or Water Pewee — the small Fly- 

 catcher who is almost as familiar about the farm and 

 roadside as the Robin him- 

 self. Look about the wood- 

 shed or cow-shed. Is there 

 a beam or little nook of 

 any sort that will hold a 

 nest? If so, in early May 

 you will see a pair of nervous 

 brown birds, heaping up a 

 mound of moss and mud. When 

 they have made it large enough 

 to suit them, they line it with 

 soft grass and horsehairs ; the 

 nest is then ready for the white 

 eggs, which once in a while are 

 varied with a few brow^n spots. 



" Sometimes Phoebes build 

 under a bridge, or in a rocky 

 pocket above a stream ; for they love water and are 

 great bathers. Then they make the outside of the 

 nest to match the rock by covering it with lichens. 



" The Phoebe, like all other Flycatchers, sits motion- 

 less upon a dead twig, fence rail, or often the clothes- 

 line, waiting for insects to come by. Then he darts out, 

 seizes one, and returns to the same perch, fli})[)ing the 

 tail, raising the little crest, and calling ' Phoebe — 

 p-h-o-e-b-e,' in a very anxious voice. 



