202 LAND BIRDS 
of very unusual choice of sites have been recorded: 
“in an old robin’s nest placed in a bush four feet from 
the ground ”; in old tunnels and mining shafts, in pros- 
pect holes, in an old embankment, in burrows of the 
bank swallows, ete. But always the nests are lined with 
some soft warm material, such as wool or short hair. 
The ordinary call-note of the Say Phoebe is a plain- 
tive “phee-er,” always accompanied by a twitch of the 
tail and the raising and lowering of the crest. Besides 
this note, during the mating season it utters a short low 
warble. 
462. WESTERN WOOD PEWEE. — Contopus richardsona. 
Famity: The Flycatchers. 
Length : 6.20-6.75. 
Aduits: Upper parts dark grayish brown ; under parts washed with dark 
gray ; belly and under tail-coverts whitish or tinged with yellow. 
Young: Similar to adults with brownish wing-bars. 
Geographical Distribution : Western North America, north to British 
Columbia, east to Great Plains, south in winter to Mexico and South 
America. 
California Breeding Range: In Transition zone throughout the State. 
Breeding Season: June and July. 
Nest: Of plant fibre, rootlets, down, sage, and grass tops ; sometimes 
covered with lichens or spider webs ; in trees, from 5 to 40 feet from 
the ground, 
Eggs: 2 to 4; irregularly spotted with brown and purple at the 
larger end. 
In general characteristics the Western Wood Pewee 
does not differ much from the common wood pewee of 
the East. Its ecall-note is, however, harsher and more 
emphatic, lacking the plaintive quality of the “ peeah- 
wee ” heard morning and evening in the Eastern woods. 
It is variously described as “ pee-ee,” “ pee-eer,” “ pee-ah,” 
fait ee eg 
