I20 PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



143. Sayornis i)lioel>e (Lath.). Phcebe. 



A rather common summer resident, especially in the southern 

 and central portions of the state. It is generally found near 

 bodies of water, or about barns and outbuildings, following the 

 settlements up to 1,500 feet or so. In numerous cases, what ap- 

 pears to have been the same pair of birds has returned year after 

 year to build on the same spot. The males arrive ten days or a 

 fortnight in advance of their mates, and occasionally one may 

 see the joyful meeting of the two on some early April morning, 

 the male launching himself into the air, alternately sailing and 

 flying as he pours forth a succession of '^chips'' and '' phoe- 

 bes,'' and finally flutters down to a perch near his mate, who ap- 

 pears to take it all as a matter of course. At least two broods 

 are usually reared, and the first brood may sometimes be seen 

 lingering about the nesting site long after they are old enough 

 to be independent of parental care. 



Dates : March 26 to October 10. 



144. Coiitopiis borealis (Swains.). Oi.ive-sided Fi^y- 



CATCHER. 



An uncommon summer resident, of general distribution in the 

 breeding season throughout the sub-Canadian region, up to 

 about 2,500 feet. It is most frequently found on dry hillsides 

 where there is a scattering growth of spruce or pine, with dead 

 trunks here and there ; or it is found about open spaces in the 

 denser woods. Mr. R. Hoffmann observed four males at Alstead 

 in the summer of 1900, and Mr. G. H. Thayer finds it about 

 Mt. Monadnock in the heavier growth. .Mr. William Brewster 

 ('78, p. 177) has recorded a specimen taken at Rye Beach on 

 July 24, 1872, and Mr. W. E. Cram writes that it is found dur- 

 ing the summer at Hampton Falls. About Lake Umbagog it is 

 said to be common in summer. 



Dates : May to September 3. 



145. Contoiius virens (Linn.). Wood Pewee. 



A rather common summer resident of the Transition and sub- 

 Canadian regions, showing no decided preference fqr decid- 

 uous, evergreen, or mixed growth, and often, as I have obser\'ed 

 at Walpole and elsewhere, dwelling among the large elms of the 



