BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 251 
‘‘Tts note is the most characteristic sound in the woodland, 
and is best represented by the words pee wee, the two syllables 
about equally accented, the first perhaps a little higher, the 
last sometimes rising, sometimes falling, but always prolonged, 
always plaintive, as though the bird wished you to know that 
its particular lot was harder than that of any of its feathered 
friends, but it meant to make the best of it, and would try to 
be cheerful. I found young, almost full-grown, August 15th. 
The old birds at this season, perched on the dead limb of some 
lofty elm or oalx, utter from time to time their plaintive note, 
making between times a hasty dash into the air to secure some 
flying insect, then fly back to the perch. On beautiful Autumn 
mornings, in woods of stately oaks, elms and poplars, where 
dim shades are penetrated by occasional patches of checkered 
sunlight, and whose silence was broken by the note of this 
species, I found young birds waiting on perches for their par- 
ent’s return with some food, and filling the interim while she 
is foraging, with a plaintive squeak uttered at intervals, and 
sounding like the squeak of a mouse which has just felt the 
wire of the trap squeezing his throat, though louder; occasionally 
lowering their heads threateningly, and snapping their beaks 
when some butterfly or dragonfly flew near them. Or, impa- 
tient, they chase the mother bird, and one on either side strive 
to force the morsel she has obtained from her mouth. 
“At Georgetown they were abundant; very common indeed at 
Ada, and I noticed them at Crookston, St. Vincent and along 
the Thief river.” 
Many writers attempt to express the rotes of this bird, but I 
confess to a great inability to get what seems to me to be any 
material resemblance. Still, if they but partially succeed it 
_ may help to identify the bird, and I would not therefore dis- 
courage their attempts. Suffice it, who has heard Phoebe will 
recognize a member of the family. After the period of incu- 
bation and rearing the young is over, the old birds apparantly 
are very seldom found together, a circumstance accounted for 
on the inference of conjugal indifference, which is entirely 
gratuitous, for the well known characteristic habit of feeding 
of the whole family explains the circumstances more satisfac- 
torily and leaves the ‘‘good name” unstained. Whoever will 
take sufficient pains will always find the partner of the sum- 
mer’s sacrifices not very far away. 
