SAY'S PHOEBE 171 



is equally attached to its old home, to which it regularly returns from year to 

 year. It appears to be much more tolerant in its disposition toward other 

 members of its kind than the Phoebe, as I have found several pairs breeding 

 within 100 yards of each other apparently in perfect harmony. Its manner 

 of flight is also similar. • * * i consider it a more restless bird than the 

 Phoobe, if that is possible; for it is never idle, but constantly darting back and 

 forth from its perch after passing insects, wliich form the bulk of its food 

 and of which it never seems to get enough. 



In its favorite haunts in the flat, open spaces, Say's phoebe flits 

 about over the stunted vegetation with rather powerful wing strokes 

 in its somewhat zigzag flight. It does not ordinarily fly high and 

 favors rather low perches, on some small bush, tall weed stalk, or 

 low rock, seldom higher than a fencepost. Thence it sallies forth to 

 seize its flying prey with a loud click of its bill, or to pick up some 

 lowly insect from the ground, and returns to its perch with a flick 

 of its black tail. It is not at all shy and shows its confidence in the 

 human race by living about the ranches and placing its nest on occupied 

 dwellings. 



Laurence M. Huey (1927) discovered an interesting night-roosting 

 habit of this phoebe : 



Camp was established near an old adobe ruin, where, after a few days, a Say's 

 Phoebe was noticed early in the morning and again at sunset, with precise 

 regularity. This occasioned some speculation, and not until it was discovered 

 that the bird had a chosen roosting site nearby, were its actions explained. 

 ♦ * * On the evening when the phoebe's secret was discovered, an inspection 

 tour was made about 10 :30. • * * Before entering the doorless doorway 

 of the old building, a glance upward revealed, almost directly over the door- 

 way, an old nest of a Black Phoebe and protruding from the edge of the nest 

 was a bird's tail. A closer look showed the preemptor to be none other than 

 the regular-twice-daily-occurring Say's Phoebe. Blinded by the light, the bird 

 did not flush, but tried to crouch more closely into the cup of the nest. 



Every night thereafter the phoebe was looked for and always found. On 

 two occasions, when the weather had turned decidedly cooler, the bird resorted to 

 a niche in the wall a few inches above the nest ; otherwise it was always in 

 its favorite spot. 



Voice. — The ordinary call note of Say's phoebe is quite unlike the 

 note of the eastern phoebe; it is a soft, plaintive phee-eur, rather 

 sweet but somewhat melancholy in tone; it is often accompanied by 

 a twitching of the tail and a raising of the crest. Ralph Hoflfmann 

 (1927) says: "The Say Phoebe in the mating season utters repeat- 

 edly a swift pit-tsee-ar, finally fluttering about in the air repeating 

 a rough trilling note. Even in the winter this mating song is 

 occasionally heard." 



Field marks. — Its flycatcher behavior, its grayish-brown back, and 

 its reddish-brown belly, together with its conspicuous black tail, 

 make this phoebe easily recognizable. Its flight, as referred to 

 above, is characteristic. 



