LAND BIRDS. 397 



"a somewhat lower key, and varied to 'whuir, whuree/ or 'puree,' accom- 

 panied by various turns and twistings of the head. Its alarm note is a 

 penetrating and far-reaching 'wheek, wheek.'" Bicknell says the birds 

 are nearly silent through most of July and August and use only low notes 

 until they depart. 



The nest is built late in May or early in June; E. B. Schrage taking a set 

 of five eggs at Pontiac June 4, 1896, and R. B. Westnedge a set of six at 

 Kalamazoo June 10, 1891. Possibly a second brood is sometimes reared, 

 since we have several records of eggs in July. Mr. W. Wilkowski states 

 that at Kalamazoo, July 11, 1902, he found a nest containing ten eggs 

 evidently laid by two different females, since five were heavily blotched 

 and the other five thinly marked. The period of incubation is commonly 

 given as fifteen days. The nest is always placed in a hollow of some kind, 

 usually in the branch of an orchard tree, or the dead limb of some large tree 

 in the forest. It is made of a great variety of fibrous materials, but usually 

 has tufts of hairs, roots, grasses, feathers, and almost invariably pieces of 

 cast snake-skin, sometimes entire skins. Various explanations have been 

 suggested for this use of snake skins, the most common being that the skins 

 are supposed to protect the nest from the intrusion of enemies, but this 

 is extremely doubtful. The eggs are four to seven, rarely three or eight, 

 while five or six is the usual number. They have a buffy ground color 

 profusely marked with streaks, lines, and spots of darker color, commonly 

 reddish brown, purple and lavender. " Pen markings " usually predominate 

 and the eggs can hardly be confounded with those of any other Michigan 

 bird. They average .88 by .66 inches. 



The food consists mainly of insects and if more abundant the bird could 

 be counted as one of the farmers' good friends, although it eats such a 

 variety of insects that the problem is by no means simple. It also eats 

 some small fruits, including blackberries, wild cherries, and the fruits of 

 honeysuckle, sassafras and spice bush. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult (sexes alike) : Upper parts clear olive or grayish brown, the top of head darker 

 and browner; most of tlie primaries edged externally with rusty (rufous), and the coverts 

 and tertiaries with white or buffy; throat and chest clear ash-gray, shading into sulphur- 

 yellow on the lower breast, belly, sides and under tail-coverts; edges and lining of wings 

 also yellow; middle pair of tail-feathers entirely brown, the rest brown on the outer webs, 

 rufous or chestnut on inner webs; bill brownish; feet black; iris brown. 



Immature: Scarcely different from adults, but colors not so pure, and feathers of back 

 and wings, often with rusty edgings. 



Length 8.50 to 9 inches; wing 3.90 to 4.40; tail 3.50 to 4.'J0; culnien about .75. 



179. Phoebe. Sayornis phoebe (Lath.). (456) 



Synonyms: Phoebe Bird, Pewee, Bridge Pewec, Water Pcwee, Barn Pcwee, Beam- 

 bird, Pewit Flycatcher. — Muscicapa phoebe, Latham, 1790. — Muscicapa fusca, CJmel. 

 1788. — ^Tyrannus fuscus, Nutt. — Sayornis fuscus, Baird. 



May be recognized by its action and note, not by shape or color, at least 

 not by amateurs. The lack of conspicuous wing-l)ars, the white edging 

 of the outer tail-feathers, the nearly white (slightly yellowish) under parts, 

 are helpful points with a si)ecimen in hand. Probably the most character- 

 istic action of the bird is the constant dropping and flirting of the tail. 



Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to eastern Colorado and 

 western Texas, and from the British Provinces south to eastern Mexico 



