BIRDS OF NEW YORK 1 87 



Sayornis phoebe (Latham) 

 Phoebe 



Plate 67 



Muscicapa phoebe Latham. Index On. 1 790. 2 : 489 

 Muscicapa fusca DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 115, fig. 67 

 Sayornis phoebe A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 212. No. 456 



sayornis, from the name of Thomas Say and Gr., opt.;, bird; phdebe, in imitation of its 

 note 



Description. Upper parts grayish brown ; the top of the head notice- 

 ably darker, almost blackish; wings and tail fuscous; wing bars almost 

 indistinguishable; under parts dingy white, tinged with brownish gray 

 on the breast and sides, and washed with yellowish on the belly; bill 

 blackish. 



Length 7 inches; extent 11.25; wing 3.4; tail 3.5; bill .45. 



The Phoebe may be distinguished from the Wood pewee by its 

 blackish under mandible, the whitish outer vane of the outer tail feather 

 and the fuscous crown. It is also slightly larger and more brownish, 

 scarcely showing any olive or greenish tinge on the upper parts. Its note 

 also, a two syllabled call of pe-wee or phoebe is clearly different from the 

 three syllabled plaintive pee-a-wee of its smaller relative. 



Distribution. The Phoebe inhabits eastern America from Alberta, 

 Keewatin, Quebec and New Brunswick to New Mexico, Mississippi and 

 Georgia, and winters from latitude 37 southward to Vera Cruz. In New 

 York it is probably the commonest member of the flycatcher family, being 

 a summer resident throughout the State except in the spruce and balsam 

 forests of the Catskills and Adirondacks. It arrives from the south from 

 the 15th of March to the 10th of April and departs for more southern 

 latitudes from October 15th to 30th. 



Habits. The Phoebe bird prefers the vicinity of water. It usually 

 constructs its nest on the timbers of a bridge, or on the shaly overhanging 

 bank of some stream, or on the beams of the lakeside cottage or on the 

 veranda post, or beneath the shed or eaves of the barn. In fact, nearly 

 any position which is sheltered from the rain and storm is suitable for this 

 bird. It has adapted itself both to civilized conditions and to the wilder- 

 ness. Like all flycatchers, the Phoebe chooses a conspicuous lookout from 



