240 



FLYCATCHERS. 



on the breast nml siik's; hill hhtck. Iin. — Similur, Imt upper part« more olive, 

 iiiiiler partM iiuire yellow, aiul \vinj;-l>ar« more diwtliiet. L., O-itU; W., 3-38; 

 T., •J-yf); H. from N., -41. 



Jief/i(iri.'K — The I'ha-heV prineipai diwtin^'tii.sliiiif,' eliuraeters aro it» fus- 

 cous erowii-eap, wliitc outer vaiic of the outer tuil-feuther, ami MuekiHli lower 

 inandihle. 



yj'a/if/c— Eastern North America; breeds from South Carolina to New- 

 foundland and Manitoba, and winters from North Carolina to Cuba and 

 Mexico. 



Washington, common S. R., Mcli. h to Oct.; occa.«ionally winters. Sing 

 Sini^', common S. K., Meh. 14 to Uct. 2«. Cambridjfe, common S, R., Mcli. 25 

 to Oct. 10. 



iVt*/, bulky, largely njoss and mud lined with grasses and long hairs, on 

 u beam or rafter, untler a bridge or bank. A'(/<jn, four to six, white, rarely 

 with a few einnamon-brown siMJts, -78 x -b'd. 



There is something familiar, trustful, and homelike in the Phoebe's 

 ways which has won him an undisputed place in our nirections. With 

 an lussurance born of many welcomes he returns each year to his perch 

 on the bridge-rail, barnyard gate, or piazza, and contentedly sings his 

 humble, monotonous peivit phmbe, jmwit phcehe — a hopelessly tune- 

 less performance, but who that has heard it in early spring when the 

 '* pussy willow " seems !«lmost to purr with soft blossoms, will not 

 utUrm that Phcebe touches chords dumb to njore ambitious songsters ! 



Sometimes Phcobc is inspired to greater effort, and, springing into 

 the air on fluttering wings, he utters more phwhen in a few seconds 

 than he would sing ordinarily in an hour. 



Pha>be is a devoted parent, and is rarely found far from home. 

 His nest seems to be the favorite abode of an itinumeruble swarm of 

 panisites which sometimes cause the death of his offspring, and when 

 rearing a second family he changes his quarters. 



No other Flycatcher winters in numbers in our Southern States, 

 and Phoebes' notes heard in January in the heart of a Florida " hum- 

 mock " seem strangely out of place. 



Say's Ph<ebe (.#.57. ISayornu sai/a), a western species, is of accidental 

 occurrence east of the Mississippi. It has been found in northern Illinois, 

 Wisconsin, lown, and, more recently, on Capo Cod, Ma.sjsachusctts (Miller, 

 Auk, vii, 1890, p. 228). 



469* tiOniopUBhOVeBiln ( Swdillfl.). OMVE-SII>KIlFl.VCATCnER. Ad. 



— Upper juirts lietwecn fuscous and ilark olive ; wings and tail fuscous ; throat, 

 middle of tlie belly, and generally a narrow lino on the center of the breast 

 whiu> or yellowish white; rest of the under parts of nearly the same color as 

 the back ; under tail-coverts marked with dusky; a tuft of Jltify, yellowish- 

 white feathers on cither Hank ; upper mandible black, lover mandible yel- 

 lowish or pale grayish brown, the tip darker. /;».— Similar, but with rather 



