284 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



He once watched one of these pewees flying out from its perch for 

 insects "and noted the number caught in three minutes." He says : 



In the first minute 7 were taken, in tlie second 5, and in the third 6, or 18 in 

 three minutes. These observations were made at 10 a. m., when the air was 

 warm and many insects were on the wing. At 9 a. m. the next day the same percli 

 was again watched, and 17 captures were noted in 8 minutes. This morning was 

 much cooler than the previous one and fewer insects were abroad. The mean of 

 these two observations is 4 insects per minute, and if this rate is kept up for 

 even 10 hours a day, the total is 2,400 insects. It seems hardly ix>ssible that one 

 bird can eat so many unless they are very small, but this bird is rarely seen 

 when it is not hunting. When there are young in the nest to feed, the havoc 

 among the insects of that immediate vicinity must be something enormous. 



In spite of the fact that Professor Beal found no traces of honey- 

 bees in the 174 stomachs that he examined, some do occasionally eat 

 bees, for Frank Stephens Avrote to Major Bendire (1895) : "I have 

 known apiarists to be compelled to shoot a great many to protect their 

 bees; one in San Diego County told me that he shot several hundred 

 in a season. They capture both workers and drones, and I have 

 examined many stomachs which had stings sticking in them." 



Dr. A. K. Fisher (1893) says that, in Death Valley, "one day, when 

 the wind was very high, a number were seen sitting on the bare alka- 

 line flats near the [Owens] Lake, where they were picking from the 

 ground the flies which swarmed there, as grain-eating birds do seeds." 



BehamoT. — In a general way the habits and actions of the western 

 wood pewee are similar to those of its eastern representative. It 

 sits in a vertical attitude for long periods on the top of some dead 

 tree, or oftener on a dead branch on the edge of the woods or under 

 the shadow of the open forest, whence it makes frequent sallies into 

 the air after insects and returns to its lookout perch. Fruit orchards 

 and shade trees about houses are also often used as hunting grounds. 

 It is very lively in its movements, darting about in the air after its 

 prey, which it seizes with a click of the mandibles. It is a mo.st 

 industrious and persistent flycatcher, spending most of its time in 

 the pursuit of these tiny insects, of which an enormous number seems 

 to be needed to satisfy its appetite. 



As a rule, it seems to be quite tolerant and peaceful toward its 

 avian neighbors, but it knows how to discriminate between the harm- 

 less and the dangerous ones. Jays and other nest robbers are imme- 

 diately attacked by the guarding male, if they venture too near the 

 nest; with cries of protest and much snapping of mandibles, the 

 unwelcome visitor is set upon, driven away, and pursued relentlessly 

 until forced to leave the territory. Mr. Rathbun writes to me: "If 

 their nest is disturbed the birds show much excitement, not only by 

 giving their notes often and continually shifting from one perch to 

 another, but at times one of the pair will make a feint to strike 

 the intruder ; and these actions continue as long as they are molested." 



