lllj' 



92 WOOD PEWEE 



"Kingbird the Least, and each one has dis- 

 wo°o/pevvee tinctive characters. The Kingbird 

 can be tokl at a glance by his large 

 size and the white band on the end of his tail ; 

 the Wood Pewee may be distinguished from the 

 Phoebe by its white wing bars: wdiile the Least 

 may be known by its small size, its wing bars, 

 and call of che-hech'. (See Plate XIII. p. 258.) 

 The Kingbird is the one seen chasing Crows and 

 Hawks ; the Phoebe, the house, barn, and bridge 

 bird ; and the Wood Pewee, the pensive, poetic 

 architect of the lichen-covered nest. 



Looked at as a group, all four birds have the 

 prominent Flycatcher characters — the gray plu- 

 mage, large heads and shoulders, 

 and broad, flat, slightly hooked, 

 bristling bills (Fig. 38). 



As flycatching birds, the Fly- 

 ^ catchers' methods of hunting dif- 



BiUofMyclteher. ^^^' markedly from those of the 

 Swifts and Swallows, who simply 

 go through the air devouring all they meet ; for 

 the Flycatchers lie in wait for passing insects, 

 flying out from a perch and dropping back 

 again to wait for more. Grouped by song, the 

 Flycatchers rank with the songiess Grouse and 

 Doves, or the minor songsters, such as Swal- 

 lows, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Hummingbirds ; 

 rather than with the Mockingbirds, Catbirds, 

 Wrens, and Orioles. Like some other birds, they 



