.^•(■ATCHERvS 



199 



This is another liird whose nesting habits have 

 been iiiodificd by the a])i)carancc in its habitat of 

 man and his hanchwork. Before his advent 



' urtc^i wl Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



PHCEBE (i nat. size) 



The bird's confiding ways and gentle manners have won 

 real affection from its human neighbors 



Phoebe placed her nest generally in a niche of a 

 shelving clit?, and it was a beautiful little crea- 

 tion of moss and lichens whose color was so 

 nearly that of the immediate surroundings that 

 it was almost invisible. The bird still builds occa- 

 sionally in such places even when man-made 

 structures are not far away ; but most frequently 

 the nest is found on a sheltered projection from 

 a barn or house (often on a ledge under a porch 

 where it may be almost within arm's reach), or 

 on a beam under a bridge. From the last men- 

 tioned site the bird is often called the " Bridge 

 Pewee," though the true Pewees are of a dififer- 

 ent species. 



In this practice we see another instance of what 

 may be termed imperfect adaptability. Evi- 

 dently Phffbe is intelligent enough to discern 

 some of the advantages of building in or near 

 human habitations. Not the least of these ad- 

 vantages is that she thereby receives protection 

 from her natural enemies, the Hawks and Owls, 

 and predatory animals such as skunks, squirrels, 

 and weasels. Also her natural food ("which is 

 composed wholly of insects) is probably more 

 plentiful in the new location than in the old. 

 What she seems to be unable to learn, however, 

 is that a nest of green moss and mud is not 



exactly inconsjiicuous wheti it is tucked away in 

 the angle between a beam and a rafter which are 

 painted red or brown. This is a fair illustration! 

 of the occasional blindness, and in this instance, 

 it would seem, the color-blindness, of instinct. 



Sometimes Phoebe will take possession of the 

 abandoned nest of a bird of another sjjecies, such 

 as a Barn Swallow or a Robin. One observer 

 has reported a nest that was built under a wood- 

 shed close to a cord-wood saw, the noisy opera- 

 tion of which did not always frighten the sitting 

 bird from her eggs. 



Phoebe is no musician ; in fact the bird's in- 

 variable two-syllabled call, from which it gets 

 its name, and which sometimes suggests petulance 

 or impatience, becomes a trifle monotonous, when 

 its reiteration is frequent and at brief intervals, 

 which is often the case. Nevertheless the bird's 

 confiding ways and gentle manners have won the 

 real affection of its human neighbors, who should 

 realize as well that it is very useful as a destroyer 

 of noxious insects. In its pursuit of thvs prey it 

 shows all of the flight-skill and speed which are 

 characteristic of its species. Like its relatives 

 it generally selects a perch on a dead limb or 

 fencepost whence it has an unobstructed view of 

 the immediate surroundings, and it is likely to 

 return to this perch after each darting sally. The 

 sharp snapping of its bill as it seizes an insect is 



Photo by A. A. A 



PHCEBE 



At its nest on a cUff 



often plainly audible, and it has a trick of switch- 

 ing its tail sideways which is also characteristic. 

 It seems hardly necessary to say anything in 

 favor of a bird alreadv firmlv established in the 



