TYRANNJD.E — THE FLYCATCHERS. 359 



like pee-e. Tliese iiotos are oontiiuu'd until diirk, and are also uttert'd 

 throughout the season. 



Mr. Nuttall .states that this .specie.s at times displays a tyrannical disjiosi- 

 tion, and that it lias heen oliserved to ciiase a harmless Sparrow to the 

 ground, l)eeause it hfi])penod to approach liis station lor collecting insects. 



According to Mr. Audubon, some of these birds spend the winter months 

 in the extreme Southern States, Louisiana and Florida, where tliey feed upon 

 berries as well as insects. 



In ^rassfiehu.setts the Wood I'ewee is a very abundant species, and may 

 usually be I'ound in any (jjien woods, or in an orchard of large spreatling 

 trees. In the latter situation it fre<|uently breeds. It usually selects a 

 lower dead limli of a tree, i'rom ten to tliirty feet from the ground, and occa- 

 sionally, but more seldom, a living moss-grown branch. It always choo.ses 

 one that is covered with small lichens, and saddles its nest upon its uj)per 

 surface, so closely assimilated by its own external coating of lichens as not 

 to be distinguishable from a natural protuberance on tlie lind». Tliis struc- 

 ture is extremely l)eautii'ul, rivalling even the artistic nests of the Hnmming- 

 Bird. It is cup-shaped, and a perfect segment of a sphere in shajie. The 

 periphery of the nest is made of line root fibres, small lichens, and bits of 

 cobwel)S and otlier similar materials. Tlie outer sides are entirely covered 

 with a beautii'ul coating of mosses and lichens, glued to the materials witli 

 the saliva of the builder. The eggs are usually four in number, measure 

 .78 of an inch in lengtli and .'>'> in breadth. Tlicy 'ire obtuse at one end 

 and tapering at tlie other, have a ground of a rich cream-color, an'' are 

 marked about the larger end with a wreath of blended i>urple, lilac, and red- 

 brown in large and confluent spots. They hatch about the midille of June, 

 leave the nest in July, and iiave but a single brood. 



A nest of this spttcies, taken in Lynn by Mr. Welch, and built on tlie 

 dead branch of a forest tree, has a diameter of thro(^ and a height of one and 

 a half inches. The cavity has a depth of one inch, and a diameter, at the 

 rim, of two and a hidf inclios. The base is tlatlened liy its jiosition. Its 

 walls are strongly woven of fine dry stems, intermingled with vegetable 

 down, covered externally with lichens, cemented to the exterior, apparently 

 by the secretions ol' the bird. The base is thinner, and made of softer 

 materials. 



Duruig the winter montlis this sjiecies is present as a migrant in various 

 parts of Mexico, south to Guatemala. 



