WOOD rEWEE 91 



in a treetop, and when not singing may be con- 

 fused with the Phoebe. Two things help one, 

 however, for to the patient observer the Pewee's 

 habit of flying out after insects will betray his 

 whereabouts : and his distinct whitish wing bars 

 will separate liim from his cousin, the Phoebe. 

 Then, too, he is smaller and sits more upright 

 than the plump, fluffy Phoebe. 



When watching a Pewee in Farmington one 

 day, I was much puzzled by her actions. Again 

 and again she crossed a wide open space and flew 

 against the side of a tree trunk. What food 

 could she be finding there ? Putting up my 

 opera-glass, I was delighted to discover a round 

 patch of light green lichen on the spot to which 

 she went, and following her flight saw her go 

 straight as an arrow to a crotch in a treetop, 

 where she sat down and went to moulding a little 

 knot in the crotch. She had been gathering 

 lichen for her nest ! It seems a simple matter, 

 but after years of delight in the exquisite lichen- 

 covered nest of the Wood Pewee — a nest excelled 

 by none but the Hummingbird's — it is enough 

 to start one's pulses to see the dainty builder actu- 

 ally putting on her decorations. To the true bird- 

 lover life cannot be altogether blank while such 

 pleasures are to be had for the looking. 



Grouped together, the four commonest Flycatch- 

 ers can easily be distinguished from each other. 

 In size they grade down from the Kingbird to 



