270 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



when she reports: "For thirty-five years a Wood Pewee's * * * 

 nest has been placed in the same fork of an elm tree about forty feet 

 from the ground." 



Eggs. — Major Bendire (1895) says: "From two to four eggs are 

 laid to a set, generally three, and sets of four I consider rare." He 

 describes them as follows : 



The eggs of the Wood Pewee vary in shape from ovate to short or rounded 

 ovate; the shell is close-grained and without gloss. The ground color varies 

 from a pale milky white to a rich cream color, and the markings, which vary 

 considerably in size and number in different sets, are usually disposed in the 

 shape of an irregular wreath around the larger end of the egg, and consist of 

 blotches and minute specks of claret brown, chestnut, vinaceous rufous, helio- 

 trope, purple, and lavender. In some specimens the darker, in others the 

 lighter shades predominate. In very rare instances only are the markings found 

 on the smaller end of the egg. 



The average measurements of seventy-two eggs in the United States National 

 Museum collection is 18.24 by 13.65 millimetres, or about 0.72 by 0.54 inch. The 

 largest egg of the series measures 20.07 by 13.97 millimetres, or 0.79 by 0.55 inch ; 

 the smallest, 16.51 by 12.95 millimetres, or 0.65 by 0.51 inch. 



Yovmg. — The young pewees, generally three in a brood, grow 

 rapidly and soon overfill their little nest. However, in color they 

 match the surrounding bark and lichens so closely that they remain 

 inconspicuous even when, almost ready to fly, the three of them are 

 in plain sight from below, crowded together on a nest that was none 

 too big to accormnodate their parent. 



Dickey (MS.) indicates how the young birds prevent themselves 

 from falling out of the nest. "Wlien I attempted to take them from 

 the nest," he says, "they resisted with more strength than one would 

 have supposed they possessed. They grasped the lining of the nest 

 with their claws and pulled it out as I lifted them up." 



Burns (1915) gives the incubation period as 12 to 13 days, Bendire 

 (1895) as "about twelve days," and Dickey (MS.) says: "The eggs 

 were incubated for a period of exactly thirteen days in six nests I 

 had under observation." 



A. Dawes DuBois gives in his notes an account of the nest life 

 in a family he watched closely. He says : "On the day of hatching, 

 the single nestling was only a bit of animated fuzz, but by the eve- 

 ning of the next day it had apparently grown to twice its original 

 size — an odd little creature with tufts of whitish gray down on its 

 back and head. When the nestling was four or five days old it was 

 brooded only part of the time. The feeding was done very quickly. 

 The parent brought what appeared to be a small moth ; the nestling's 

 head went up, instantly the food went in, the head dropped back, and 

 the parent brooded, all in a second or two without any ceremony. 

 Two days later the nestling was well feathered. Occasionally it 

 stretched and flapped its wings. While being fed it never uttered 



