THE OOLOGIST. 



39 



-man of simple habits and unusual frank- 

 ness. He had an inborn aversion for 

 all kinds of circumlocution and insin- 

 cerity, and was himself a model of 

 directness and truthfulness. He was 

 generous, kind hearted and ever ready 

 to help others, no matter at how much 

 pei'sonal inconvenience, if he believed 

 them worthy. He had a large number 

 of correspondents in all parts of the 

 country who considered it a privilege 

 to contribute notes and specimens for 

 his use. These and many others will 

 mourn his loss, but none so deeply as 

 the small coterie who were so fortunate 

 as to be numbered among his intimate 

 personal friends. — C. Hart Merrian, in 

 "Science." 



Tyrant Flycatchers in New England. 



There is probably no one family of 

 birds, that gives the ornithologist as 

 much trouble as the Flycatchers. ' Most 

 of the species ai'e of about the same 

 size, and their colors mostly neutral- 

 olive and wh i lethat is more or less 

 pure, with occasional small and often 

 indistinct spots of some brighter color; 

 as the small spot ot red on the King- 

 bird's crown for instance. 



But they are Flycatchers, not 11 y- 

 iiunters, anditis the insect on the wing, 

 not the crawling slug in the dirt, that 

 concerns them, and constitutes their 

 food. The very name suggests a lively 

 time and it is hard to find one that is 

 lazy, no matter how quiet it may be — 

 and the latter, by the way is a very 

 prevalent trait. Nevertheless they are 

 very neat in appeai^ance, except per- 

 haps for the slight erectile crest, that is 

 so prevalent among the family and 

 which often gives them a dishevelled 

 appearance. 



There are only ti^^e of this species that 

 might be called common in New Eng- 

 land, viz: Least and Greated-creSted 

 Flycatcher, Kingbird, Phoebe and Wood 

 Pewee; and it is these five only that I 



shall have to do with. There are, how- 

 ever, twelve species in all, common, in 

 one sense, to New England; three of 

 these are only stragglers from the west 

 and south; and the other four are only 

 occasional visitors which resemble other 

 well known kinds. The most common 

 of this latter class is the yellow-bellied 

 Flycatcher. 



The Wood, Pewee [Gontopus virens) is 

 found chiefly in woods, either dry or 

 swampy; it prefers shade to sunshine, 

 and tall trees to scrubby ones. Although 

 it is often seen in orchards, it is gener- 

 ally one of that kind which is not taken 

 care of and consequently attracts more 

 insects on which it may live. In the 

 evening it is likely to be found in the 

 neighborhood of ponds and lakes. 

 When once discovered, it may be easily 

 studied, owing to its habit of returning 

 to the same place at about the same 

 time day after day. 



It has tne regular Flycatcher habit of 

 capturing its prey. Selecting some 

 post of observation, usually in this case 

 from ten to forty feet from the ground, 

 the Pewee sits and watches for any 

 passing insect, and sighting it, glides 

 gracefully downward, seizes the insect, 

 and then returns to its post t(; wait for 

 another, with a graceful upward curve. 

 Oftentimes it sails leisurely into the air, 

 and with outspread wings and an up- 

 ward toss of the head, will sing as lazily 

 as it can utter the syllables, the notes 

 pee-wee; this is often shortehed to pee-u. 



It sings especially in the early morn- 

 ing and lat9 evening, often when it is 

 quite dark. la the neighborhood of 

 New York, its song ceases at any time 

 between the end of July and the end of 

 August, although occasional songs are 

 heard in September. 



After the young have left the nest, the 

 old birds separate, and though still fre- 

 quenting the same localities they inhab- 

 ited during the breeding season, yet 

 they are seldom seen together, each 

 seeming to avoid the other. They are 



