BIRDS OF 



line;! with feathers ; about tlie erlge is always to be found the cast-off skins 

 of snakes. 



Eggs, 4 to 5 ; light buffy-brown, streaked lengthwise by lines and 

 markings of purplish and darker brown. 



This species does not penetrate far north into Ontario, but 

 is a regular summer resident along the southern frontier, where 

 it arrives early in May, and soon makes its presence known by 

 its loud note of warning, which is heard among the tree tops long 

 before the bird is visible. 



Dr. Wheaton in his " Birds of Ohio " states that this species 

 is very numerous near Columbus, where the country being 

 well cleared and the usual breeding places difficult to find, the 

 birds have taken to the use of boxes put up for Bluebirds and 

 Martins, and have been observed to dispossess the legitimate 

 owners. It has also been noticed that the snake skins are left 

 out where the nests are in boxes. 



Genus SAYORNIS Bonaparte. 



177. SAYORNIS PHCEBE (Lath.). 45(>. 



Phoebe. 



Dull olivaceous-brown ; the head much darker fuscous-brown, almost 

 blackish, usually in marked contrast with the back ; below soiled whitish, or 

 palest possible yellow, particularly on the belly ; the sides and the breast, 

 nearly or quite across, shaded with grayish-brown ; wings and tail dusky, 

 tiie outer tail feather, inner secondaries and usually the wing coverts edged 

 with whitish ; a whitish ring around the eye ; bill and feet black, varies 

 greatly in shade. The foregoing is the average spring condition. As the 

 summer passes, the plumage becomes much duller and darker brown from 

 wearing of the feathers, and then, after the moult, fall specimens are much 

 brighter than in spring, the under-parts being frequently decidedly yellow, 

 at least on the belly. Very young birds have some feathers edged with 

 rusty, particularly on the edges of the wing and tail feathers. Length, 6J-7 ; 

 wing and tail, J-3J. 



Hab. Eastern North .\merica, from the British Provinces south to 

 Eastern Mexico and Cuba, wintering from the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States southward. 



Nest, under bridges or projection about outhouses : composed of 

 vegetable material mixed with mud and frescoed with moss. 



Eggs, 4to 5 : usually pure white, sometimes faintly spotted. 



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