Wood Peivee, 227 



is commonly locuted ne:ir its accustomed porch, if the 

 nesting season is at its height. There it will sit almost 

 motionless waiting for a passing insect, occasionally turn- 

 ing its head to sweep the view on either side. On per- 

 ceiving a fly, beetle, or other luckless insect winging its 

 Avay through the air near its perch, it will fly out and 

 attempt to capture it with a quick snap of its bill, often 

 making several attempts, or captures, before returning to 

 its seat. It will sometimes make many sallies into the 

 air in a short time, and frequently appears to turn com- 

 pletely in the air, so rapidly and abruptly does it turn 

 after attempting a capture. It is probable that it makes 

 many unsuccessful dashes after prey, as the kingfisher 

 makes many bootless plunges into the water in its pursuit 

 of fish. I once observed a wood pewee make more than 

 thirty sallies from one perch, a low dead branch in a large 

 silver maple in town, and when I left the spot the pewee 

 was still on the limb waiting for passing insects. The 

 pewee seldom flies upward as does the kingbird, but usu- 

 ally flies outward, though it sometimes rises as it dashes 

 outward to strike the line of flight of its quarry. 



Individuals of this species seem to have little desire to 

 associate with their fellows or witii other species. In the 

 somber portions of the forest which they frequent, and in 

 the secluded parts of the orchards where they dwell, they 

 seek solitude. The woods bordering the streams and in 

 the bottom lands are favored resorts, the damp woodlands 

 and decaying vegetable matter sustaining an abundance 

 of insect life, which is necessary to the presence of these 

 expert insect-catchers. These dark woodlands are dreary 

 at best, and the melancholy, far-away notes of the pewee 

 add little to the cheeriness of the scene, yet they are in 

 perfect harmony with their surroundings. 



The wood pewees make their nests about the first week 

 of June. The invariable site of the nest is a horizontal 

 branch, on which the structure is placed or '^saddled," often 

 at a considerable distance from the trunk or body of the tree, 

 and at a varying height between six and forty feet from 

 the ground. In the bottom woodlands, the widespreading 

 willows furnish convenient sites, and in the higher woods 

 the horizontal arms of elms furnish the desired situations, 



