of 



Mr. Chapman's authority, the five rarer members 

 perform as follows : the olive-sided swoops from the 

 tops of the tallest trees uttering "pu-pu" or "pu- 

 pip " ; the yellow-bellied sits upon the low twigs and 

 sneezes a song, an abrupt "pse-ek," explosive and 

 harsh, produced with a painful, convulsive jerk; the 

 Acadian by the help of his tail says " spec " or 

 "peet," now and then a loud " pee-e-yuk," meanwhile 

 trembling violently; Trail's flycatcher jerks out his 

 notes rapidly, doubling himself up and fairly vibrat- 

 ing with the explosive effort to sing " ee-zee-e-up " ; 

 the gray kingbird says a strong, simple "pitirri." 



It would make a good minstrel show, doubtless, if 

 the family would appear together. In chorus, surely, 

 they would be far from a tuneful choir. 



I should hate to hear the flycatchers all together. 

 Yet individually, in the wide universal chorus of the 

 out-of-doors, how much we should miss the king- 

 bird's metallic twitter and the chebec's insistent call ! 



There was little excitement for phcebe during this 

 period of incubation. He hunted in the neighborhood 

 and occasionally called to his mate, contented enough 

 perhaps, but certainly sometimes appearing tired. 

 One rainy day he sat in the pig-pen window looking 



170 



