180 CONTOPUS VJRENS. 



find a clear illustration of the use of the vocal muscles, they being imperfectly developed 

 the bird is incapable of uttering any thing approaching the songs of its better endowed 

 neighbors. Rarely, these birds give a harsh cry not unlike some of the sounds produced 

 by the Olive-sided Flycatchers. 



I have described the Wood Pewees as inhabiting (he deep woods and, although this 

 is their frequent custom, they occasionally inhabit orchards, but it is quite rare to find a 

 nest on other than a forest tree. The neat domicile of this Flycatcher is one of the prettiest 

 among those of our native birds and its covering of lichens renders it quite inconspicuous 

 when placed on a limb. The birds are usually wise enough to select a large branch where 

 the nest resembles one of the peculiar knobby excrescences so often seen on oaks. There 

 are a few species of birds which use this peculiar kind of covering for their structures. 

 Notably among these are the Vireos, Gnatcatchers, the present species, and the Humming 

 Birds, and it is observable that all birds which make use of it seldom employ any other 

 material, even if they build in widely different sections. Thus the nests of the Wood 

 Pewees that I have examined which were taken in Georgia were not essentially different 

 from those taken in Maine. There is also a singular uniformity in the eggs of this species 

 which are among the most beautiful of any I ever saw, occasionally one is found that is 

 not spotted as thickly as usual, but the form of the egg, the shade of ground color, with 

 the position of the markings are so peculiar and constant that the species is always recog- 

 nizable at sight. 



The Wood Pewees arrive late, about the first week in May, shortly after which they 

 begin to build but, as some time is required to construct their elaborate domiciles, the eggs 

 are not deposited until June. The birds guard their nests very carefully and in spite of 

 their usual gentle disposition, will not hesitate to dart into the face of any one who attempts 

 to scale the tree in which their home is placed. The young appear about the first of July 

 and leave the nest the latter part of that month. They follow their parents for a long 

 time and are fed by them, as their bills are quite soft and are long in assuming the hooked 

 form peculiar to the adults and which may be necessary in order to catch insects successfully. 

 At this time the young have a continuous twittering cry, quite unlike anything that their 

 parents ever utter, and they always keep well together, seldom scattering about woods. 

 Thpy remain in Massachusetts until the middle of August, when they all disappear. I 

 found them more abundant in Watsontown, Pennsylvania, the first week in September, 

 than I ever saw them in any other given section. Their call notes could be heard on all 

 sides for there were hundreds of them, but in a few days they had all departed for the 

 south. 



(iEXUS IV. SAYORNIS. THE PIICEBES. 



(TEN-. CH. Bill, much shorter than the head which is semi-crested but without the central coronal patch. Outer quills, 

 not incised. Tail, square and smart/mate. Upper outline ofmanubrium, viewed from the side, anylcd ob.i'jue/y downward. 

 Httyht of keel, about eyual to one half the Icnyth of the coracoids. flroncho-trachealis, very sliyhtly developed. Jlronr/na- 

 Hs, i/uite large. 



Colors above quite dark, usually relieved by lighter below. The bill is black on both mandibles. Although there i- ;in 

 elongated patch of f jathers on the upper rump, yet they are not as thick as in the last genus, nor as white. 



