72 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



then darts out for passing fly which his keen eye 

 sees at some distance. Then back he flits and 

 resumes his perch with a low chuckle of satisfac- 

 tion and takes up the same tiresome '^ chebeCy 

 chehecT He is about the only bird I dislike for a 

 summer neighbor. We are very grateful that the 

 English Sparrow has not become numerous in 

 our neighborhood. 



Chebec excels as a builder. In the fork of an 

 apple-tree limb, back of our house, he con- 

 structs a dainty cup of rootlets and strips of 

 bark, lining it with hair and plant down. The 

 eggs are plain white. 



The dress of this little Flycatcher is rather 

 pretty. The back is olive-green, the breast 

 gray, and the under parts whitish. The head is 

 darker and the wings have two distinct white 

 bars. They nest from Pennsylvania to Quebec 

 and winter in the tropics, arriving in early May. 

 This is a very small bird, about five inches in 

 length. 



Wood Pewee. Whenever, in summer, I plunge 

 into the second growth woods just beyond 

 the cove, I am greeted by a plaintive little 

 song that contains more sentiment, more real 

 pathos than any other melody of the bird 

 chorus. Slow and pensive it sounds, morning, 

 noon and night, from early May to the end of 

 August, ''pe-a-wee, pe-a-wee,''^ a sweet, though 

 rather melancholy, strain. 'Tis the song of the 

 Wood Pewee, the best singer of the Flycatcher 

 family. It is a wandering sound not easily 

 located, and often one will search long before 

 finding the singer. This song has pleased many 



