PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR. 107 



culiarities are common to no other bird ; but then, of 

 an August afternoon, what more can we wish than 

 this dreamy indifference ? It fits the time and season. 

 Liveliness and activity are certainly out of place just 

 now. If I knew that birds were gathered together 

 at such a time I would shun them, at least until the 

 sun went down. But there is a smouldering fire in 

 the wood-pewee that can flash into full ignition on 

 occasion. Let some bold beetle fly across the field, 

 buzzing and humming as if in defiance of all the 

 flycatching fraternity. Those loose feathers on the 

 pewee's head stand up and tremble, those eyes that 

 but a moment before were lustreless now shine like 

 live coals, and the presuming beetle is at once pur- 

 sued and captured. At times there is a conflict ; 

 not every insect will slide without resistance down a 

 pewee's throat. Never, though, is there any lasting 

 battle. Soon the disabled beetle is devoured in part, 

 and then what a change takes place in the manner of 

 the bird's song ! On such occasions I have heard, as 

 near as I could catch it, pt-pt-pe-we-weepe-wttp ! 

 A sort of exultation, as if it had been twitted and re- 

 plied with more energy than politeness. Again, while 

 watching them during the long August hours, I have 

 seen battles royal with moths and butterflies that 

 came within the pewee's danger-line. There was ever 

 the one result, the same sad ending for the insect ; 

 but the fight, though always to a finish, was not al- 

 ways brief. I have often marvelled at the wonder- 

 ful pluck of a half-wingless butterfly. Its efforts to 

 outwit the bird gave me a fair insight into the psy- 



