1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Ill 



dull greenish-olive, the feathers of the head point- 

 ed, and centred with black, erectable, forming a 

 loose, spreading crest ; throat and breast, fine ash, 

 abdomen, yellow ; wings and tail, ferruginous. 



The Olive-Sided Flycatcher, (Tyrmmus bo- 

 realis, Swain. ; Muscicapa Cooperi, Nutt.,) is 

 likewise exceedingly rare in New England. 



It seems to have been first described by Dr. 

 Richardson and Mr. Swainson, in their Northern 

 Zoology, from a specimen obtained far to the 

 north, on the banks of the Saskatchewan river. 

 Nuttall subsequently met with several individuals 

 of this species, in this State, and supposing it 

 undescribed, dedicated it to his friend, William 

 Cooper, Esq., and has added something to our 

 knowledge of its habits. He speaks of them as 

 quarrelsome and tyi-annical, even among them- 

 selves, apparently disputing about the rights of 

 their respective hunting-grounds. 



The length of this species is six and a half to 

 seven inches. Upper parts dusky brown, darkest 

 on the head, which has an erectile, blowsy crest ; 

 sides, olive-gray ; centre of abdomen, yellowish- 

 white. 



The Phcebe, or Pewit Flycatcher, (Tyran- 

 nula fusca, Jard.,) is one of our earliest and most 

 welcome spring visitants, and from its familiar 

 habits and valuable services, is well entitled to 

 our protection and regard ; yet a few, far more 

 avaricious than humane, persist in shooting it for 

 its habit of occasionally varying its insect fare 

 with a few bees. He often builds in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity of the farm-house, in an old barn or 

 open shed, sometimes taking possession of thg^ 

 deserted Swallow's nests ; and his agreeable, plain- 

 tive call of phcebe, or pee-ioe, pewittitee ple-ioe, 

 heard throughout the long mornings of early 

 spring, from his perch in the garden, or immedi- 

 ate vicinity of the farm-yard, are familiar to all, 

 and ever listened to with pleasure. He also some- 

 times selects some sheltered, projecting part of a 

 bridge, the walls of a well, or a cave, for the site 

 of his nest, which is large and firm, composed of 

 mud and moss, and nicely lined v.-ith horse hair, 

 and soft substances. The eggs are five, and near- 

 ly pure white. Wilson speaks of a forest cave, 

 romantically situated beside a small stream, over 

 which, and 



"Throush every chink the woodbines creep 

 And smooth-barked beeches spread their arms around," 



in the solitude and repose of which a pair of 

 Phoebes quietly reared their young for several 

 successive years, until a party of boys, waging 

 indiscriminate slaughter upon the feathered tribes, 

 "within my hearing," says Wilson, "destroyed 

 both parents of this old and peaceful settlement ;" 

 and no Pewees, he obsirves, were seen at that 

 place for several years after. 



The Pewees, or Phoebes, remain with us until 

 October, when the rigors of the season, and the 

 scarcity of their insect food, compel them to seek 

 a more southern latitude, for a more congenial 

 climate. 



This species is six and a half inches in length ; 

 extent of wings, nine and a half, upper plumage, 

 dark, dusky olive, darker on the head, wings and 

 tail ; beneath, pale yellowish. 



This species, and the two following, have been 

 separated from the larger Tyrants, chiefly from 

 their smaller size, forming the sub-genus Tyran- 



nula of Swainson. This, and several of the small- 

 er Tyrannulce, Jardine observes, are much allied 

 to the spotted Flycatcher of Britain, {Muscicapa 

 luctaosa, Tenn.,) diff"ering in no point but slightly. 



The Wood Pewee, {Tyrannnla virens, Jard.,) 

 is a common sylvan species, occasionally seen in 

 the orchard, but generally wholly confined to the 

 woods, and more commonly observed in high-tim- 

 bered, solitary woodlands, whei'e there is but lit- 

 tle undergrowth. Perched on the slender, dry 

 twigs of the lower branches, it incessantly watch- 

 es for passing insects, darting upon them with 

 unerring aim, in the intervals calVmg out jiee-icay, 

 pee-a-wee, peto way, in a feeble, melancholy tone, 

 well harmonizing with the solemnity of the shady 

 woods, outside of which it is so seldom seen, 

 though in August it sometimes approaches the 

 thick-set orchards. It is wholly inoffensive, sub- 

 sisting like its congeners on winged insects. It 

 constructs a neat, and very curious nest, so inter- 

 woven with moss on its exterior surface as hardly 

 to be distinguishable from the decayed, moss-cov- 

 ered branch upon which it rests, and is delicately 

 lined with fine root fibres, and other soft materi- 

 als. The eggs are three or four, yellowish-white, 

 sparingly blotched with lilac and dark brown. 

 The Wood Pewee winters far to the south, seldom 

 arriving in New England before the middle of 

 May, and retiring early in September. 



The Wood Pewee measures six inches in length, 

 and ten in alar extent. Above, pale brownish- 

 olive, beneath, pale yellowish ; head, sub-crested, 

 brownish-black. 



The Small Pewee, (Tyrannula Acadica, 

 Swain.,) is a common, and v/ell known species, 

 inhabiting alike the orchard and the forest. It 

 comes to us from the far south, about the tenth 

 or fifteenth of May, with the throng of summer 

 birds that then arrive ; and their sharp, rather 

 unpleasant call of queah, isheah, is at once re- 

 cognized, so frequently uttered while watching 

 for insects in the vicinity of the garden or or- 

 chard, or while engaged in petty combats with one 

 another, which are common at this period. Far- 

 ther south it seems to be quite rare, from Wil- 

 son's account of it, and chiefly confined to moist 

 woods and solitary forests, but it is common, even 

 quite numerous in this latitude, and extends its 

 migrations far to the northward, and is, perhaps, 

 more frequently seen in the orchard than else- 

 where. It constructs a neat and curious nest, 

 generally in the forked branch of an apple tree, 

 compactly woven of the strong fibres of dead 

 grass, thread, if it can possibly obtain it, and 

 horse hair, nicely lined with soft, downy substan- 

 ces. The eggs are M'hite, and four or five in num- 

 ber. This is one of the smallest of our Flycatch- 

 ers, but gallantly defends its nest from all intrud- 

 ers, equaling its larger congeners in intrepidity, 

 and in the skill it displays in seizing its favorite 

 food. 



The Little Pewee is five and a half inches in 

 length, and nine in alar extent ; upper parts, 

 green olive color ; beneath, greenish-yellow, dark- 

 est on the breast ; wings dull brown, with two 

 bars of dull white. J. A. A. 



Springfield, Mass., Dec. 30, 1860. 



How TO Right a Leaning Chimney. — A cor- 

 respondent who had built the foundation of his 



