146 DAVET^S PRIMER 



THE PHCEBE. 



The phoebe subsists almost exclusively upon insects, 

 most of which are caught upon the wing. An ex- 

 amination of 156 stomachs showed that over 93 per 

 cent of the year's food consists of insects and spiders, 

 while wild fruit constitutes the remainder. The insects 

 belong chiefly to noxious species, and include many 

 click beetles, May beetles, and weevils. In their sea- 

 son grasshoppers are eaten to a considerable extent, 

 while wasps of various species, many flies of species 

 that annoy cattle, and a few bugs and spiders are also 

 eaten regularly. 



The black phoebe is found from Texas west to the 

 Pacific coast, which it occupies as far north as Wash- 

 ington, replacing through most of this region the com- 

 mon or eastern form. It has the same habits as the 

 eastern phrebe, both as to its food and its selection of a 

 nesting site, preferring for this purpose some structure 

 of man, as a shed, or, better still, a bridge over a stream 

 of water. The preference of the black phcebe for the 

 vicinity of water is very pronounced. The observer 

 will always find one at a stream or pool and often at a 

 watering trough by the roadside. A careful study of 

 the habits of the bird shows that it obtains a large por- 

 tion of its food about wet places. While camping be- 

 side a stream in California the writer took some pains 

 to observe the habits of the black phcebes. The nest- 

 ing season was over and the birds had nothing to do 

 but eat. This they appeared to be doing all the time. 



