286 LAND-BIRDS. 



of their note as a loud, harsh, disagreeable squeak, and subse- 

 quent writers have repeated this statement. I have watched 

 the Great Crested Flycatchers many times at all seasons, ex- 

 cept in winter, for the express purpose of hearing this cry, 

 but I have never heard them utter any sound to which the 

 above description is applicable. On the contrary, I have at 

 all times heard them utter a single loud, brusque note (not 

 unlike the ordinary call of the Quail), which it is difficult to 

 imitate well, though one may do so by whistling and suddenly 

 drawing in the breath. These Flycatchers have also a few 

 low notes, which are likewise whistled. I do not wish to 

 deny the accuracy of my predecessors, but merely to state 

 that there is certainly one sound familiar to me, which seems 

 to have escaped their attention, and that what they describe 

 is very probably a querulous cry. 



III. SAYORNIS. 



A. PHCEBE. Pewee (^Flycatcher). Phoehe-hird. Bridge 

 Pewee. A common summer resident throughout the cultiva- 

 ted parts of New England.* 



a. Seven inches long or less. Tail, forked ; crown-feath- 

 ers, erectile, and very dark. Above, dark olive brown, in 

 autumn (after the moult) approaching olive green. Sides 

 always, and the breast often, shaded with the same. Under 

 parts, otherwise white (or very pale yellow, chiefly behind, 

 and brightest in autumn. Eye-ring, edging of the wings and 

 of the outer tail-feather, inconspicuously white.) The throat 

 is sometimes streaked. Bill^ wholly hlach. 



b. The nest of the Pewee is most often built on a beam or 

 pillar, or under the eaves of some building, occasionally those 

 of a bridge. It was primitively attached to a wall of rock, 

 either on a cliff, or in a cave, but, so far as I know, it is no 

 longer often to be found in Massachusetts thus placed.f It is 



* A common summer resident, breed- t Nests built on cliffs or ledges, on 



ing practically everywhere in southern projecting roots or stones in gravel or 

 New England, but in the three north- sand banks, and among the roots of up- 

 em States confined chiefly to the settled turned trees, are still frequently met 

 portions of the country. — W. B. with in Massachusetts in places remote 



from buildings. — W. B. 



