292 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



to the Pacific Ocean. It ranges northward, as far as known at present, to British 

 Columbia, Alberta, and northern Saskatchewan, and will probably be found in still 

 higher latitudes. Southward it is found during the breeding season in Arizona, 

 New Mexico, and western Texas, and in the mountain regions of Lower Cali- 

 fornia. In eastern Manitoba, according to Mr. Ernest E. Thompson, it overlaps 

 the range of the Wood Pewee, both species being found in the vicinity of 

 Winnipeg, and it is 'not rare in other localities in this jjrovince. None winter 

 within our borders. 



In its general habits the Western 'Wood Pewee resembles the preceding 

 species very closely, but not in its call notes. These are shorter, much harsher^ 

 and are uttered with much more emphasis — not in the plaintive, listless manner 

 of the former. They resemble the sounds "pee-ee" or "pee-e'er," occasionally 

 varied to "pee-ah." Dr. James C. Merrill, United States Army, gives the note 

 as "tweer" or "deer." On the whole, the Western Wood Pewee is not as often 

 found in extensive forests as the preceding species. It prefers the less heavily 

 timbered creek bottoms, the edges of mountain parks, and generally more open 

 country, but avoids the dry, arid plains and desert regions. It has been found 

 at altitudes up to 11,000 feet in summer. 



Its food consists of insects of different kinds, and in southern California, 

 Mr. F. Stephens informs me, this species is occasionally very destructive to 

 honeybees. He says: "I have known apiarists to be compelled to shoot a 

 great many to protect their bees; one in San Diego County told me that he 

 shot several hundred in a season. They capture both workers and drones, and 

 I have examined many stomachs which had stings sticking in them." Such 

 conduct on their part is probably exceptional. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher, in his Report on the Ornithology of the Death Valley 

 Expedition, says: "One day, when the wind was very high, a number were 

 seen sitting on the bare alkaline flats near Owens Lake, where they were picking 

 tip from the ground the flies which swarmed there, as grain-eating birds do 

 seeds." 1 



Mr. R. H. Lawrence writes me: "At Humptulips, Washington, this Fly- 

 catcher would rarely come within proper range of my shotgun until well along 

 in the morning, say half past 9 o'clock, when they came down lower in the trees. 

 Probably they sought the upper stratum of air in the early hours because the 

 sunlight set the insects stirring there before it did those of the undergrowth. 

 This was seen to be so on my trips to the little prairies, where a comparatively 

 extended view could be had. I noticed this in May and June, 1891." 



The Western Wood Pewee arrives rather late on its breeding grounds ; even 

 in the southern portions of its range it is rarely seen before the last half of 

 April, and not until a month later in the more northern localities, while nidifica- 

 tion rarely begins anywhere before June 1. 



Mr. Robert Ridgway makes the following statement regarding the position 

 of the nests of the Western Wood Pewee: "The nest of this species, as is well 



■North American Fauna, No. 7, 1893, p. 64. 



