, SAY'S PIICEBE. 277 



the Arctic Circle. Mr. Lucien M. Turner obtained several specimens near P'ort 

 Yukon, in about latitude 67° north, in the latter |)art of" May, ISTfi, and ^\r. 

 B. II. Ross, of the Hudson Bay Company, took it at Fort Simpson, on tlie Mac- 

 kenzie River, in Julv, 1861, where our common Plicjebe was also found by liim. 

 Skins from l)oth places, where both of these species are known to ])reed, are 

 now in the United States National Miiseum collection. It will undoulitedly 

 be found in the vast intervening' territory nortli of our border and east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, in Athabasca and Alberta, as it is recorded from western 

 Saskatchewan and from Britisli Columbia. In the United States it lias been 

 taken at various points on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, l)ut there 

 it appears to be consideral)ly rarer than farther west. Its breeding rang-e in the 

 United States is coextensive with its geographical range, excepting the soutli- 

 western parts of Texas. 



Say's Phoebe seems to be more at home in rather open countrv, and is 

 rarely fomid in heavilv timbered regions; still it occurs in such localities 

 at times, as I took a male near Fort Klamath, Oregon, on March 28, 1883, and 

 saw a few others subsequently. During my various wanderings in our Western 

 States and Territories I generally found Say's Phad)e rather uncommon, except- 

 ing at Fort Lapwai, Idalio, where several pairs were breeding within the limits 

 of the garrison, as well as at the adjoining- Nez Perce Indian Ag-ency, and I 

 met with it also at Fort Custer, Montana; Camp Harney, Oregon; Forts 

 Colville and Walla Walla, Washington; Camp Independence, California; and 

 near Tucson, Arizona. 



Its general habits and actions resemlile those of the eastern Phcebe; like 

 it, it is one of the earliest spring migrants to return from its winter haunts, and 

 it is equally attached to its old home, to which it regularly returns from year to 

 year. It appears to be much more tolerant in its disposition toward other 

 members of its kind than the Phcebe, as I have found several pairs breeding- 

 within 100 yards of each other, apparently in perfect harmony. Its manner 

 of fli<>-ht is also similar, l)ut its ordinarv call note (lifters somewliat, and sounds 

 really pathetic; a plaintive " phee-eur," frequently repeated, expresses it tol- 

 erably well, always accompanied with a twitt-h of the tail and a raising and 

 lowering of the crest. Besides this note, during- the mating season it gives vent 

 occasionally to a short, ])laintive, twittering warble. I consider it a more rest- 

 less bird than the Phcebe, if that is possible; for it is never idle, but constantly 

 darting- back and forth, from its perch after passing- insects, whicri form the 

 bulk of its food and of which it never seems to get enough. I have repeatedly 

 seen it catching good-sized grasshoppers on the wing, as well as different species 

 of beetles, flies, moths, and butterflies. It has a habit similar to the Owls of 

 ejecting the indigestible portions of its food in the shape of pellets. My atten- 

 tion was drawn to this fact by observing several such lying on the porch of my 

 quarters at Fort Lapwai, Idaho, where a pnir of these birds nested over the 

 door. It is not nearly as partial to localities unw water as is our Phojbe, and it 

 is not unusual to find it nesting- fully a mile from such places. At this Post they 



