68 BIRDS OP FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



attractive as a singer nor brilliant in dress, yet 

 they are always welcome as neighbors and we 

 are happier for their presence about the old 

 bridge, the farmyard and the orchard. Their 

 plaintive notes, " phoebe, phoebe,'^ are rather 

 monotonous, yet they are not unmusical and are 

 quite pleasing in early spring when songsters 

 are all too few. 



Phoebe is the first of the Flycatchers to arrive, 

 since they winter farther north than any other 

 member of the family. Last year at the end of 

 December I found them in the pinelands of 

 North Carolina, mostly solitary, but one pair 

 in the shelter of a sunlit roof of a deserted house 

 were in song, uttering loud notes that were quite 

 strange to my ears although this bird has been 

 familiar to me in its nesting range from boyhood. 

 It is said the Phoebe mates for life. If this be 

 true it is hard to understand why they do not 

 make their migratory journeys together; or how 

 he finds his mate, since the males arrive a week 

 or two ahead of the females. They become 

 strongly attached to a desirable building site re- 

 turning year after year. 



This year, when our country home was opened 

 in late May, a Phoebe's nest was found on a 

 window cap near the kitchen door under the 

 roof of the veranda. It was well built of mud, 

 moss and grass, lined with bits of wool and 

 feathers. Although so near the door where there 

 was much passing, Phoebe was not afraid, but 

 hatched and reared a brood of five youngsters 

 who were guided to the orchard as soon as they 

 could fly. There they are learning bird ways, 



