200 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



affections of the people, but it may not be amiss 

 to point out that this good will rests on a solid 

 foundation of scientific truth. In the animal 

 food of the Phoebe there is such a small per- 

 centage of useful elements (less than 3 per cent.) 

 that they may be safely overlooked, while of the 

 vegetable food it may be said that the products of 

 husbandry are conspicuous by their absence. To 

 its credit are cotton-boll weevils, strawberry wee- 



vils, corn-leaf beetles, both spotted and striped 

 cucumber beetles, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, 

 moths and caterpillars, spiders, ticks and thou- 

 sand-legs. Let the Phcebe remain just where 

 it is. Let it occupy the orchard, the garden, the 

 dooryard, and build its nest in the barn, the car- 

 riage house, or the shed. It pays ample rent for 

 its accommodations. 



George Gladden. 



SAY'S PHCEBE 

 Sayornis say us {Bonaparte) 



A. O. U. Number 457 



Other Name. — Say's Pewee. 



General Description. — Length, 7! j inches. Upper 

 parts, brownish-gray; under parts, bulify-gray and cin- 

 namon-buff. Tail, emarginate. 



Color. — Above, plain brownish-gray, the crown and 

 hindneck decidedly darker ; upper tail-coverts, dusky- 

 grayish, usually margined with paler ; tail, brownish- 

 black, the outer web of lateral feather edged with 

 whitish ; wings, deep brownish-gray with pale brownish- 

 gray edgings, these broader and approaching dull 

 whitish on inner secondaries and terminal portion of 

 greater coverts; sides of head and neck, similar in 

 color to upper portions, changing gradually below into 

 the pale huffy brownish-gray of chin and throat; chest 

 and sides of breast, light buffy brownish-gray, the 

 center portion of chest usually more strongly tinged 

 with buff ; rest of under parts, cinnamon-buff ; under 



wing-coverts, pale buff or cream-buff; inner webs of 

 wings edged with buffy-whitish ; bill, black ; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually beneath bridges, 

 in abandoned dwellings, in caves, under ledges, or some- 

 times in hollow trees ; composed of grasses, weeds, bark, 

 moss, wool, cocoons, spiders' webs, lined with feathers 

 and hair. Eggs: 3 to 6, sometimes with a few reddish- 

 brown dots at large end. 



Distribution. — Western North America ; north to 

 Alaska, Yukon Territory, and southern Mackenzie ; east 

 to Manitoba, eastern Wyoming, western Kansas, middle 

 Kansas (more rarely), and (in winter) to coast of 

 Te.xas — accidentally to Wisconsin and northeastern 

 Illinois ; breeding southward to southern New Mexico, 

 southern Arizona, and Lower California — probably 

 breeding in northern and perhaps central Mexico ; 

 southward in winter over northern and central Mexico. 



In manners, at least, there is some resemblance 

 between Say's Phcebe and its cousin of the east- 

 ern States ; for both are essentially unassuming 

 and rather timid little birds, and both are apt to 

 nest in protected niches of man-made structures. 

 The western bird doubtless does this less often 

 than the eastern, probably for the very good 

 reason that it has fewer opportunities. There- 

 fore, it is often found in country where there 

 are ledges — which furnish the natural nesting 

 places of the entire tribe — and especially in the 

 great canons, where its favorite perch is likely 

 to be a big bowlder whence it makes its sallies 

 after passing insects. Nevertheless, Say's Phoebe 

 is common about ranch buildings, mining sheds, 

 and railroad stations. According to Mr. Dawson 

 it is only within the past twenty years that it has 

 taken to nesting in buildings in Yakima County, 

 W^ashington. Like the eastern Phoebe again, this 

 species shows a strong attachment for the home 

 site it has once used, and will return to build its 

 nest in the same locality or even the same spot. 



The western bird is, however, rather more 

 restless than the eastern one, and seems more 

 given to flirting its tail and raising its crest when 

 there is no particular occasion for doing either. 

 Its note is a plaintive two-syllabled utterance, 

 somewhat like that of the eastern Wood Pewee. 

 Its diet is coinposed almost wholly of insects 

 taken on the wing in true Flycatcher style, and 

 in common with other members of its family 

 (as well as the Hawks and Owls) it ejects from 

 its mouth, in the form of pellets, the hard and 

 indigestible parts of its food. 



Its animal food, over 99 per cent, of its entire 

 diet, is the factor that fixes this bird's economic 

 ])osition. The item of this most open to objec- 

 tion is predatory beetles amounting to about 6 

 per cent. This item is higher with Say's Phoebe 

 than with any other of the Flycatchers, but still 

 is small as compared with the injurious insects 

 eaten. In spite of the fact that the bird eats 

 these useful insects its work on the whole is 

 beneficial, and it should be protected. 



