TYRANNID.E — TIIK FLYCATCHERS. 



350 



like pee-e. These notes are eontimuHl until dark, and are also utter d 

 tlirougliout the season. 



Mr. Nuttall states that tin's species at times displays a tyrannical disposi- 

 tion, and that it has heen observed to chiise a harmless Sparnjw to the 

 ground, because it hajipenod to approach his station for collecting insects. 



According to Mr. Audubon, some of these birds spend the winter months 

 in the extreme St>uthern States, Louisiana and Floj Ida, where they feed upon 

 berries as well as insects. 



In Massachusetts the Wood Pewee is a very abundant species, and may 

 usually be found in any oj)en woods, or in an orchard of large spreading 

 trees. In the latter situation it frequently breeds. It usually selects a 

 lower dead liml) of a tree, from ten to thirty feet from the ground, ami occa- 

 sionally, but more seldom, a living moss-grown branch. It always chooses 

 one that is covered with small lichens, and saddles its nest upon its uj)per 

 surface, so closely assimilated by its own external coating of lichens as not 

 to \m distinguishable from a natural protuberance on the lind). This struc- 

 ture is extremely beautiful, rivalling even the artistic nests of the Hunuuing- 

 lUrd. It is cu])-shaped, and a perfect segment of a sphere in sha])e. The 

 periphery of the nest is made of fine root fibres, small lichens, and bits of 

 cobwebs and other similar materials. The outer sides are entirely covered 

 with a beautiful coating of mosses and lichens, ulued to the materials with 

 the saliva of the builder. Tlie e^ns are nsuallv four in numl)er, measure 

 .78 of an inch in length and .;").") in ]>readth. They are obtuse at one end 

 and tai)ering at the other, have a grcnind of a rich cream-color, and are 

 marked about the larger end with a wreath of blended jiiirple, lilac, and red- 

 brown in large and confluent spots. Tliey hatch about the middle of Jime, 

 leave the nest in Julv, and have but a single brood. 



A nest of this species, taken in Lynn by Mr. Welcli, and built on the 

 dead brauch of a forest tree, has a diameter of three and a height of one and 

 a half inches. The cavity has a dejith of one inch, and a tliameter, at the 

 rim, of two and a half inches. The base is flattened by its ]>ositi(m. Its 

 walls are strongly woven of fine dry stems, intermingled with vegetal »le 

 down, covered externally with lichens, cemented to the exteriv)r, aiti>arently 

 by the secretions of the bird. The base is thinner, and made of softer 

 materials. 



During the winter months this species is present as a nugrant in various 

 parts of Mexico, south to Guatemala. 



