PLEASANT OUTINGS 271 



tunes, the first time I had ever heard them. While I 

 had met with these birds at Glenwood and in the valley 

 below Leadville, they had not vouchsafed a song. 

 What is the tune they whistle ? Why, to be sure, it is, 

 " Phe-be-e ! phe-be-e ! phe-e-e-bie ! " Their voices are 

 stronger and more mellifluent than the eastern phoebe's, 

 but the manner of delivery is not so sprightly and glad- 

 some. Indeed, if I mistake not, there is a pensive strain 

 in the lay of the western bird. 



A few covvbirds, red-winged blackbirds, and spotted 

 sandpipers were seen in the park, but they are too famil- 

 iar to merit more than casual mention. However, let 

 us return to Brewer's blackbirds. Closely as they 

 resemble the bronzed grackles of the East, there are some 

 marked differences between the eastern and western 

 birds ; the westerners are not so large, and their man- 

 ners and nesting habits are more like those of the 

 redwings than the grackles. Brewer's blackbirds 

 hover overhead as you come into the neighborhood 

 of their nests or young, and the males utter their 

 caveats in short squeals or screeches and the 

 females in harsh " chacks." 



The nests are set in low bushes and 

 even on the ground, while those of 

 the grackles are built 

 in trees and some- 

 times in cavities. To 



/ *jfm 



" They were hot on 

 his trail " 



