WOOD PEWEE. 
singers. Upper parts smoky olive; wings and tail sepia 
brown; shoulder feathers of the wings tipped with dull 
white, forming two more or less distinct wing-bars ; 
under parts white faintly tinged with yellow and graded. 
to light olive gray on the breast and sides; upper mandi- 
ble black, the lower light horn-color. The sexes are 
alike. Nest substantially built of fine grasses woven 
with plant fibre and moss, the outside covered with lich- 
ens; it is usually on a horizontal limb fifteen to forty 
feet from the ground. Egg white and marked with a 
circle of brown specks about the larger end. 
Mr. Chapman says, after complimenting the singer: 
** All day long the Pewee sings, even when the heat of 
summer silences more vigorous birds and the midday 
sun sends light-shafts to the ferns, the clear, sympathetic 
notes of the retired songster come from the green canopy 
overhead, in perfect harmony with the peace and still- 
ness of the hour.” There it is, as plain as can be—pure 
sentiment! Mr. Chapman strikes the keynote of the 
Pewee’s song; whether at ‘“‘matins” or ‘‘ vespers” it is 
always the same, slow, peaceful, restful, and thoroughly 
musical. There is none of the nervous haste of the 
Robin, none of the clatter of the Flicker, and all of the 
sweetness of the Peabody-bird. Pee-a-wee he sings, and 
then after an unreasonably long pause, he adds, peer! 
It is difficult to imagine how anyone with a good ear for 
sound (I will aot say music) can possibly miss the char- 
acter of the song, for the very simple reason that it is so 
obviously easy to catch it. Whistle w-h-i-e-u with the 
familiar run down the musical scale, just as though 
some one stepped on your toe, or you were greatly sur- 
prised or shocked, and if that is done in the laziest pos- 
sible manner, the Pewee’s peer is accurately imitated! 
Twice 8va 
Pe--e-7'/ 
{t is no preste performance, it must be decidedly largo, 
and when the lowest tone of the scale is reached it must 
39 
