320 INSESSORES. 



Bird is eight inches long, and fourteen in the expanse of 

 its wings. 



THE PHEBE BIRD, or PEWIT FLY-CATCHER, M. fusca, (Lat. 

 dark or dusky.) The notes of this bird are pleasing, not for any 

 melody which they possess, but from their association with the 

 returning verdure of spring. The favorite resort of the Phebe 

 Bird is by streams of water, under or near bridges, in caves, &c. 

 Near such places, he sits on a projecting twig, calling out, pe-we^ 

 pewittitee pe-we, fora whole morning, occasionally sallying after 

 insects, and returning to the same perch. The Pewit appears 

 in New York State the last of March or the beginning of April. 

 It lays four to five white eggs, with a few reddish spots near the 

 larger end, and it sometimes rears three broods in a season. 

 Insects are its summer food ; berries and seeds, its winter fare. 

 Whenever the Pewit appears, Mr. Bartram says, it is safe to 

 plant almost all kinds of esculent garden seeds, as, after the 

 arrival of this bird, there are rarely frosts severe enough to injure 

 them. The plumage is a dark olive brown, the bill entirely 

 black; the tail emarginate, the feathers whitish on the outer 

 web. This familiar and favorite little bird, winters from South 

 Carolina to Mexico. 



THE WOOD PEWEE, M. virens, (Lat. green, or lively,) is gen- 

 eraDy found in the interior of forests ; it is considerably more 

 abundant than the Phebe Bird; is rather late in entering the 

 Middle States, seldom reaching Pennsylvania and New York 

 until from the 10th to the 15th of May, but it advances as far 

 North as Labrador, and is seen on the Rocky Mountains. 



THE AMERICAN RED-START, M. ruticilla, (Lat. red, inclining 

 to golden yellow,) is found, during the summer, throughout the 

 United States, but winters between the tropics; it is shy and 

 solitary, and varies much in the brilliancy of its colors. 



Genus Culicivora, (Lat. gnat-eaters,) includes the Blue-grey 

 Fly-Catcher, C. caerulea, (Lat. dark blue,) a lively little bird, 

 four and a half inches in length, noted for its being frequently 

 the foster parent of the young Cow- bunting, the real mother of 

 which drops her egg in its nest. It ranges from Texas north- 

 ward. 



The GREENLETS, which by some naturalists are included 

 among the Fly-catchers, are by Audubon and Dr. Dekay erected 

 into a separate family, Vireonida. 



They include about eight species, and are peculiar to Amer 

 ica. The bills of these birds are of moderate size, but strong, 

 and broader than high at the base, which is furnished with bris 

 tles. The upper mandible is notched, and the tip bent ; the tar- 



