NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 79 



were perfectly green with the growing moss; these were probably occu- 

 pied for several years. The lining is chiefly feathers, grass, etc. 



Hab. Eastern United States and British Provinces, west to Dakota, Nebraska, etc., south to Mexico. 



316. Say's Pewee — sayornis sayi. White; usually four or five in number, 

 size, about .80 by .62. This bird has an extended distribution throughout 

 Western North America, from the plains of the Saskatchewan on the 

 north to Mexico on the south, and from the Rio Grande and Missouri to 

 the Pacific. The nest is built naturally on the face of rocks, under cliffs 

 along streams, and, like the Eastern Pewee, this species takes possession 

 of outbuildings or abandoned dwellings, and in every other^trait they closely 

 resemble one another. 



317. Black Pewee — sayornis nigricans. Pure white, occasionally 

 dotted with reddish-brown as in the case of the common Pewee; four or 

 five; size .75 by .56. This bird, whose color is like that of the Black 

 Snowbird, and whose nesting habits resemble those of Fiisais, is found in 

 Southwestern United States, southward throughout Mexico; on the 

 Pacific coast to Oregon, especially along rocky streams and canons. 



318. Olive-sided Flycatcher — contopus borealis. Creamy- white, 

 marked about the greater end with a confluent ring of purple, lavender, 

 and brown spots, resembling those of the Wood Pewee. Mr. Elwin A. 

 Capen in his grand work, entitled " Oology of New England,"* states the 

 number of eggs laid to be from three to five, usually four, often three and 

 seldom five, and measure from .92 to .85 in length, by .68 to .64 in 

 breadth. The bird breeds from New England northward, and much 

 further south in the west. The nesting is essentially similar to that of the 

 Wood Pewee, the structure being saddled on a horizontal limb or fixed in a 

 fork, often at a great height from the ground. The nest is a shallow, 

 saucer-like fabric of twigs, rootlets, weed stalks, bark-strips and lined with 



fine rootlets and moss. Hab. Temperate North America. 



320. Wood Pewee — contopus virens. Creamy-white, with a ring 

 of lavender and purplish or reddish-brown, in confluent spots near the 

 larger end; three or four in number, size about .70 by .55. A common 

 bird in Eastern North America from the Atlantic to the great plains. 

 Breeds from South Carolina and Texas north. The nest is a very pretty, 

 flat, compact structure, with thick wall and well-turned brim, but very 

 thin flooring — so thin, in fact, that the eggs can often be seen from beneath. 

 It is closely saddled on a horizontal bough or placed in a forked twig. It 



* Oology of New England : a description of the eggs, nests and breeding habits of the birds known to 

 breed in New England, with colored illustrations of their eggs. By Elwin A. Capen. Boston, 1SS6. 



