THE WOOD PEWEE. 139 
The eggs are generally four in number. They are very 
beautiful, being of a delicate cream-color, with blotches 
and spots of lilac and brown around the larger end: there 
are two shades of lilac,—one obscure, and the other 
decided, even a lavender. The eggs are generally oval in 
shape, and but little larger at one end than at the other. 
Length from .72 to .78 inch; breadth from .54 to .56 inch. 
But one brood is reared in the season in New England. 
The period of incubation is fourteen days. 
The habits of this species are not generally so well known 
as those of the Phebe, which bird it resembles in many 
respects. Although it is usually found in the wildest and 
most thickly wooded localities, it sometimes frequents the 
orchards and open pastures; and I have occasionally seen 
individuals on the trees on Boston Common, busily engaged 
in hunting insects, and apparently having families in the 
neighborhood. The note is different from that of the Phebe, 
being more plaintive and drawling, sounding like the syl- 
lables “‘ pe-weéee,” “ pe-weéee.” When the nest is ap- 
proached, both the parents fly to meet the intruder, 
hovering over his head, snapping their bills, and uttering 
short notes of complaint like chip-péé, pé-pew: they often 
alight on a twig near him, and flirt their tails and quiver 
their wings in a nervous, irritable manner. After the 
young have left the nest, the old birds separate; and, though 
still frequenting the same localities they inhabited during 
the season of incubation, they are seldom seen together, 
each seeming to avoid the other. They are now generally 
silent, and, when approached, are quite shy. They leave 
the New-England States by the 10th of September, and 
probably winter in South America. 
EMPIDONAX, CaABANIs. 
Empidonaz, CaBanis, Journal fiir Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 480 (type 
Tyrannula pusilla. 
Tyrannula of most authors. 
