' are. tardy jn itheir 

 -_arr4va4i Pi usually ..reaching. 

 here until -after May IQ.th. .They. k>ve 

 extreme: warmth and so do not, take the. 

 chances ,th,at earlier birds- do -.of :arriv- 

 ingt, daring --.a. ; cold. 4s,pell. . OJljey- are- 

 atrundant until September in dry- woods 

 and ja-lso fotjnd io< some extent_,in orch- 

 ard and, shade tr.ees. T.tiey sijag- ,very ; 

 freely uirtil the. middle ofc July,-- during 

 very w.arm we&toer .their song. being, 

 about : the. ^jiiLy one to be. heard, in tjbe 

 woods. = All -day long th-ey ca,\l to .one- 

 ajibther wit-h a sad,- .plai.ntlve < pee-a.ix- 

 wee," or less often shortened to ;two. 

 sylla/bles, "pee-wee." -r- 



. Pewees paddle- -tfeeir^neat^r.oiv -hori- 

 zontal, limbs-of trees, usually qu.ite- higli 

 Ufh They are 'very decorative, and Te-- 

 sem.bles- knots, or little tufts of- lichens. 

 on- the linitasv ^composed of. p-lant flbres. 

 ami dawn, ornamented on the iexterior- 

 wiih bits of gre^n" and- gray lieheas.- 

 The eggs are as . handsome, as the nest, 

 ^briglit , --cream-color with a ri-ng.of 

 chestnvit spots around the iargie ni- 



do great damage to the rice crops ; men are hired and sta- 

 tioned in all rice fields to try : and : slaugHtef -them.' Thiis' 

 the bird that we in the north regard' so Tiiglii y is" in other 

 places thought of only as ah article of food;* and m stilt- 

 other localities only as a pest th'at must '-be' de'stroyecl. r 



'Flycatchers liave neither beauty of plumage nor 'musicaT 

 voices, yet they are among our most interesting and useful 

 birds.' Our smallest -species,' the ; TbEAST FLYCATeHER' 

 or CHEBEC is one of our most abundant and most spcf- 

 able birds. In summer we can always" see or hear them in 

 our shade or orchard trees as well as in yonng woods; 

 Their song, if it is entitled to.be called suet/ is a brusque, 

 energetic "che-bec ! che-bec!" repeated sometimes' almost 

 incessantly, with only short pauses between. As each. sl- 

 lable is accompanied by a jerk of the head arid tail^ it 

 would seem as though so-much effort ought to be rewarded 

 by *a more musical sound, but theirs seems satisfactory "to 

 them, ; f not to us. At times, especially when lii's' mate is : 

 sitting upon eggs in the little fibre nest that is snugly tucked' 

 into a crotch, he will dart out and seize 1 a passing insect/ 

 ffy down' with a most pleasing little trill arid' give the iid-bit 

 to her. 



The PHOEBE also "has a ferisque son^ of two t>r tKree' 



