EASTERN WOOD PEWEE 269 



Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) describes a nest "saddled on a long straight 

 limb of an elm perhaps fifteen feet from the ground and about the 

 same distance from the trunk of the tree. The only foliage on this 

 branch was a spreading spray of leaves several feet beyond the nest. 

 One would think that a nest so located would be easily discovered 

 but such was not the case. While conspicuously located it was cun- 

 ningly woven onto the branch and so thoroughly covered with lichens 

 that I could scarcely believe it was a nest even after seeing the bird 

 alight upon it. From below it looked to be simply a lichen-covered 

 knot or a small fungus growth upon the limb and only after we were 

 on a level with it did it seem at all conspicuous." 



A. Dawes DuBois, describing in his notes a deserted nest, says: 

 "Its inner lining consisted chiefly of stiff, curved, two-branched, 

 wirelike stems resembling the fruit stems of the basswood tree — some 

 of them 2 inches long. There were about 70 of these. There were 

 also long, hairlike stems of plant fibers, other coarser stems, shreda 

 of weed bark, some 9 inches long, a piece of spider cocoon, and a 

 3-inch piece of string. At one spot, near the center, the branch itself 

 served as the bottom of the nest. The body of the structure was 

 built of similar but coarser materials. No hair was used in this nest. 

 The outside was well covered with lichens, firmly held in place by 

 cocoon silk." 



DuBois also stresses the point that, owing to' the situation of the 

 wood pewee's nest — i. e., directly on the bark of a horizontal limb 

 and often not supported in a crotch — the nest must be fastened to 

 the bark. This necessary anchorage is secured by the bird while 

 building who "repeatedly wipes her bill from side to side along the 

 limb, making the materials adhere to the bark.*' 



Bendire (1895) says: "The inner cup of the nest is usually lined 

 with finer materials of the same kind, and occasionally with a little 

 wool, down of plants, a few horsehairs, and bits of thread," and he 

 examined "a unique nest of this species, taken * * * from a 

 horizontal limb of an apple tree, about 8 feet from the ground. 

 * * * This nest, which is well preserved, is exteriorly composed 

 entirely of wool. * * * It is very sparingly lined with fine grass 

 lops and a few horsehairs, while a single well-preserved apple leaf 

 lies perfectly flat and exactly in the center and bottom of the nest." 



Ora W. Knight (1908) reports that the male "does not seem to do 

 any active work, either at nest building or assisting in incubation, 

 but I have however seen him feed the female more or less frequently 

 while she was sitting." 



The wood pewee appears to become attached to n grouj) of trees 

 and returns sometimes year after year to build its nest on the same 

 branch. Katie Myra Roads (1931) gives an instance of this habit 



