THE WOOD PEWEE. 139 



The eggs are generally four in number. They are very 

 beautiful, being of a delicate cream-color, with blotches 

 and spots of lilac and brown around the larger end : there 

 are two shades of lilac, one obscure, and the other 

 decided, even a lavender. The eggs are generally oval in . 

 shape, and but little larger at one end than at the other. 

 Length from .72 to .78 inch ; breadth from .54 to .56 inch. 

 But one brood is reared in the season in New England. 

 The period of incubation is fourteen days. 



The habits of this species are not generally so well known 

 as those of the Phebe, which bird it resembles in many 

 respects. Although it is usually found in the wildest and 

 most thickly wooded localities, it sometimes frequents the 

 orchards and open pastures ; and I have occasionally seen 

 individuals on the trees on Boston Common, busily engaged 

 in hunting insects, and apparently having families in the 

 neighborhood. The note is different from that of the Phebe, 

 being more plaintive and drawling, sounding like the syl- 

 lables "pe-weee" "pe-weeee." When the nest is ap- 

 proached, bo.th the parents fly to meet the intruder, 

 hovering over his head, snapping their bills, and uttering 

 short notes of complaint like chip-pee, pe-peu : they often 

 alight on a twig near him, and flirt their tails and quiver 

 their wings in a nervous, irritable manner. After the 

 young have left the nest, the old birds separate ; and, though 

 still frequenting the same localities they inhabited during 

 the season of incubation, they are seldom seen together, 

 each seeming to avoid the other. They are now generally 

 silent, and, when approached, are quite shy. They leave 

 the New-England States by the 10th of September, and 

 probably winter in South America. 



4 



EMPIDONAX, CABANIS. 



Empidonax, CABANIS, Journal fur Ornithologie, III. (Nov., 1855) 480 (type 

 Tyrannula pusilla. 



Tyrannula of most authors. 



