156 Bird -Lore 



shown at times to interested friends to whom the Pewee and her nest were unfa- 

 miliar. On the evening of the 28th they were pointed out to a small boy who 

 came across the street to see them. Did I thus, probably, rob myself of my pleas- 

 ure? For, though the bird was seen again on the nest in the early morning of 

 the 29th, and heard at least once during the busy forenoon of that day, she was 

 not seen at any time afterward, though the note of the male was heard at times 

 every day as usual and not far away. The nest was utterly and thus suddenly 

 deserted. I questioned — barring any mishap that may have befallen the bird — 

 could her disappearance have been due to the Pewee's aversion to being w'atched ? 

 Could she have found a more secluded place, possibly, and built there another 

 nest? If not why did the male remain about his accustomed places singing as 

 before ? 



I thought my opportunity for observing Pewees at an end and that my ques- 

 tions must go altogether unanswered, but, on July 12 and 13, a pair of the birds 

 was again frequently seen, and, thinking it might be the same pair nesting in 

 another place, I began a search for the nest. And on the afternoon of the 14th, 

 I discovered that they were building in a sweet gum tree just at the edge of the 

 porch and on a branch only about tw^enty feet from the ground. The nest was in 

 plain veiw from both porch and window, save for a screen of leaves w^hich par- 

 tially hid it. In the corner of the porch, I found my vantage ground, for thence 

 I could see the nest clearly. 



Building was evidently in progress, but it seemed nearing completion, for 

 the bird — I judged that the female alone was the builder — seemed to bring no 

 building materials when flying to the nest, but only smoothed its inner walls 

 with the breast, and with the bill put dainty touches on the outer wall of lichens. 



On July 15, the work of building continued, for the bird was seen at least 

 once to bring a blade of dead grass or a pine-needle to put into the walls. About 

 4 o'clock of that day, a boy espied the Pewee at her work. The bird seemed 

 disturbed by his presence and, flying away, was seen no more that day. It began 

 to seem that the Pewee must have a particular aversion to small boys, and I 

 feared that this nest, too, had been abandoned. But the morning of the i6th 

 found the work again going on. By this time the tiny cup-like nest had appre- 

 cialjly gained in size, and the lichen covering a])peared more elaborate than 

 before. 



Again and again the bird flew to the nest and smoothed and arranged its 

 materials. These building days appeared a play time, the bird alighting often 

 on its favorite perching places — dead Ijranches of catalpa or of i)ear — whence 

 to dart out for its prey, or sometimes to sing — if its plaintive note can be called 

 a song — the visits to the nest seeming to be made only for the sake of variety 

 and change. 



Never was her call the pe-a-wee oi the male, but often only a single note 

 and never more than two. Is this always and only the song of the female? 



On the 17th the bird was seen and heard as on the days before, only that it 



