WESTERN WOOD PEWEE 285 



Voice. — Mr. Ridgwiiy (1877) states that it seems "to be more 

 crepuscular than the eastern species, for while it remains quiet most 

 of the day, no sooner does the sun set than it begins to utter its weird, 

 lisping notes, which increase in loudness and frequency as the evening 

 shades deepen. At Sacramento we frequently heard these notes 

 about our camp at all times of the night. This common note of 

 Richardson's Pewee is a harsh, abrupt lisping utterance, more 

 resembling the ordinary rasping note of the Night-Hawk {Chordeiles 

 popetue) than any other we can compare it with, though it is of 

 course weaker, or in strength })rop()rtioned to the size of the bird. 

 Being most frequently heard dui'ing the close of the day, when most 

 other animals become silent and Nature presents its most gloomy 

 aspect, the voice of this bird sounds lonely, or even weird.'* 



Mr. Rathbun (MS.) says that ''the note of this flycatcher is similar 

 to that of its eastern relative, although it is more abbreviated; but 

 it has the same plaintive cadence so suggestive of the drowsy summer 

 days." 



Dr. Loye Miller (1939) in his study of the song of the western 

 wood pewee writes it tsmee-tee-teet ,, tswee-tee-teet., hzeiv^ and says: 

 "The tswee-tee-teet is designated as a triad, it is once repeated and is 

 then followed by hzew, a downward slur, w^hich completes the pattern 

 of three equal measures. This pattern is then repeated without 

 interruption of rhythm for an extended and metronomic perform- 

 ance. Each measure lasts for about one and a half seconds. The 

 triad is a rising sequence with the strong accent on the first note. 

 The slur is a downward slide equivalent in length to the three rising 

 notes of the triad. The tone quality of the triad notes is entirely 

 different from that of the slur, the latter being a roughened buzz, 

 whereas the former are clear and sweet." 



What is apparently the same song has been expressed in various 

 syllables by different observers, but all seem to give the same impres- 

 sion. The doleful "dear me" written by Dawson (1923), appeals 

 to me as expressing the tinge of melancholy that the song of the wood 

 pewee always suggests to me; it is not a particularly joyful song. 



Ralph Hoffmann (1927) describes another song as follows: '"When 

 a pair are together in the mating season they utter a hoarse, gurgling 

 note, ahpe-up cMe-vp, and the male encourages the female during the 

 nest-building by a musical pip, pip^ pip., pip., pce-cu or at times mounts 

 into the air and flies about calling pit, pit., pit?'' 



Field mnrkf<. — The wood pewee is only slightly larger than the other 

 small flycatchers, and it has no very conspicuous field marks. The 

 dark sides of the breast are divided by a narrow, light-colored line, 

 there are no very conspicuous wing bars, except in tlip young bird, 

 and it lacks the white eye-ring, so prominent in the Empidonaces. 



