THE PERCHING BirDs. 115 
“He builds his nest in a hollow tree deserted by the Bluebird or 
Woodpecker. The materials of which this is formed are scanty and 
rather novel. One of these nests, now before me, is formed of a 
little loose hay, feathers of the Guinea-fowl, hog’s bristles, pieces of 
cast snake-skins, and dog’s hair. Snake-skins with this bird appear 
to be an indispensable article, for I have never yet found one of his 
nests without this material forming a part of it. Whether he sur- 
rounds his nest with this by way of ¢errorem, to prevent other birds 
or animals from entering, or whether it be that he finds its silky soft- 
ness suitable for his young is uncertain ; the fact, however, is notorious. 
The female lays four eggs of a dull cream color thickly scratched 
with purple lines of various tints, as if done with a pen.” 
An almost domesticated species is the familiar 
Pewee, or Phcebe as it is often called. In some 
localities the name Bridge Pewee is heard, this name 
being derived from the locality chosen for the nest. 
But these birds build much nearer dwellings than 
that, and often on the pillars of porches where people 
are continually going and coming. Indeed, when a 
spot is once chosen by them they are not at all dis- 
posed to give it up, and when the locality meets with 
no opposition, if the first occupancy is successful, the 
birds will continue to occupy it year after year. It 
is the same pair of birds, too, as has been proved by 
experiment, and we have in pewees certainly a very 
prominent instance of migratory birds that are per- 
manently mated. 
The pewee is the earliest of our flycatchers to 
arrive. I have seen it as early as the end of Feb- 
ruary, and to find them lingering during our Novem- 
ber Indian-summer days is not unusual. 
This bird is represented along the Pacific coast by 
a black pheoebe, and there is also another, not so 
darkly colored, known as Say’s Flycatcher. Their 
