152 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



George Nelson tells me that at his home in Lexington, Mass., 

 house wrens sometimes interfere with the breeding of his phoebes 

 by flinging the newly hatched birds from the nest. The phoebe 

 is "one of the very commonest foster parents of the young Cowbird. 

 In regions where both species are common, fully 75 percent of the 

 nests contain eggs of both kinds," according to Friedmann (1929). 



Fall. — In the latitude of Boston, Mass., we see the phoebe well 

 into October, the time when the killing frosts come. It is a char- 

 acteristic bird of the late fall migi'ation, when the sparrows are 

 passing through and the hermit thrushes are arriving from the north. 

 Marked by its usual quiet demeanor, we meet it along the sunny 

 southern borders of woodlands and meadows. It is neiarly silent — 

 although on warm days it may sing even now — and almost always 

 alone. 



Manly Hardy (1885) tells of a phoebe lingering late in the season 

 at Brewer, Maine. "On Nov. 23 (1884)," he says, "when the snow 

 here was six inches deep, and the Penobscot River frozen over above 

 the dam, a Phoebe came into my garden and remained a long time. 

 As it was Sunday I did not shoot him, but there is no doubt as to 

 his identity, for my daughter and I stood within a few feet of him 

 and watched him catch insects over a smoking manure heap." 



Winter. — Bent and Copeland (1927) found the phoebe "a common 

 .winter resident about villages and in hammocks" near St. Petersburg, 

 Fla. I have met the bird many times on the east coast of Florida 

 during February and March. At this season it is a silent bird, 

 rarely singing, giving only its chip note occasionally. Bradford 

 Torrey (1904), speaking of the vicinity of Miami, Fla., says: 

 "Phoebes have sung much less of late than they did in January. 

 Then they seemed to find existence a perpetual jubilee." 



Maurice Brooks writes to Mr. Bent: "Prof. E. R. Grose, State 

 Teachers College, Glenville, W Va., reports that during the winter 

 of 1930 a phoebe spent the winter on the college campus, feeding 

 during the colder periods on the berries of Japanese ivy. This is, 

 as far as I am aware, the only West Virginia winter record for the 

 species." 



There are, however, several records of phoebes wintering in more 

 northern States, viz: F. Clement Scott (1934), in New Jersey, Febru- 

 ary 4 and 5, temperature 20° "with about 8 inches of snow on the 

 ground"; John H. Tompkins (1928) at Babylon, N. Y., on February 

 6; and Miss Carol Jones (1922) at Bennington, Vt., on February 1. 



Milton P. Skinner (1928), speaking of the winter birds of the 

 North Carolina sandhills, says: "During the winter these birds 

 [phoebes] are almost always solitary, seldom even two birds being 

 near each other. Nor are they seen with any other species." 



