WOOD PEWEE. 115 



habit of swinging his tail when perching; this the 

 Pewee never does. 



Phoebes build about porches, and in barns and 

 sheds, generally on a beam; also about bridges, and 

 sometimes under a shelving bank or rock as their 

 ancestors did when there was no other shelter. The 

 nest is of mud, lined with fine grasses and horse hair, 

 and is usually covered outside with bits of feathery 

 moss which must conceal it admirably when built on 

 mossy rocks. The eggs, 4 to 6, are pure white, gen- 

 erally unmarked. 



No birds are more useful than Phcebes in destroy- 

 ing tormenting insects, and those that injure fruit, 

 flowers and vegetables, and we are fortunate if a pair 

 settle themselves on our premises, for they can be 

 depended upon to return year after year. 



Wood Pewee: Contopus virens. 



Length 6 l / 2 inches. 



Upper parts dark olive. 



Under parts brown, washed with gray on sides of the 

 throat and breast. 



Two more or less distinct white wing-bars. 



Resident (common) from May I to October 16; winters 

 in Central America. 



The woodland song that one is most sure of hearing 

 any time of day the summer through is the tender 

 adagio strain of the Wood Pewee. Pe-a-wee, pe wee, 

 he dreamily sings, and we feel at once something of 

 the peace and restfulness of the woods. 



The shallow nest i^ built high, generally in large 

 trees, and is covered with lichens like the Humming- 

 bird's. It so perfectly resembles a knot of the branch 

 on which it rests that unless you see the bird go on 

 or off you will not suspect it of being anything else. 



