232 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



is deceptive, for the Pewee is evidently happy, and delights 

 in its plaintive tones. Its common call is iwe'-a-i<:ee' , fol- 

 lowed frequently hj pe'e'-er, uttered in a drawling manner, 



and with considerable intervals 

 between the phrases. Bendire 

 says that the male has a low, 

 twittering warble in the mating 

 season. The bird also tivits and 

 twitters from time to time. 

 The nest merits more than the usual 

 brief description. It is usually saddled 

 on a dead limb, the outside adorned, 

 like that of the Hummingbird's nest, 

 with crustaceous lichens, so that when 

 seen from below it looks like a knot on 

 the branch. It is largely made of fine 

 grasses and fi])ers, and often lined with 

 them. As the nest is not deep, and 

 rests on the top of the branch, the 

 bottom is usually so thin that it would 

 fall out were it not supported hy the bark. 



The food of the Pewee consists very largely of flying 

 insects, but it often flutters about the 

 foliage, picking ott' caterpillars and plant 

 lice. Daily in the early morning and 

 in the dusk of evening, even in the un- 

 certain gloom of the deep woods, this 

 bird pursues its prey unerringly. Fly- 

 ing beetles and ants, butterflies and 



moths, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, — all are 

 taken. The Pewee is useful in the de- 

 struction of small moths and their larva?. 

 The male canker worm moths, tussock 

 moths, Tortricid moths, and gipsy moths 

 are commonly eaten, while the young birds 

 are fed largely at times on cankerworms. 

 This bird takes some parasitic flies, and 

 Bendire records an instance where it pil- 

 fered young trout from a hatchery. 



Fig. 90. — Wood Pewee, 



one-half natural size. 



Fig. 91. — Tortricid or 

 leaf-rolling moth, natu- 

 ral size. 



Fig. 92. — Tussock 

 or vaporer moth, 

 natural size. 



