202 LAND BIRDS 



of very unusual choice of sites have been recorded: 

 "in an old robin's nest placed in a bush four feet from 

 the ground " ; in old tunnels and mining shafts, in pros- 

 pect holes, in an old embankment, in burrows of the 

 bank swallows, etc. But always the nests are lined with 

 some soft warm material, such as wool or short hair. 



The ordinary call-note of the Say Phoebe is a plain- 

 tive "phee-er," always accompanied by a twitch of the 

 tail and the raising and lowering of the crest. Besides 

 this note, during the mating season it utters a short low 

 warble. 



462. WESTERN WOOD PEWEE. — Cmtopus rwhardsonii. 



Family : The Flycatchers. 



Length: 6.20-6.75. 



Adults : Upper parts dark grayish brown ; under parts washed with dark 



gray ; helly and under tail-coverts whitish or tinged with yellow. 

 Toung : Similar to adults with brownish wing-bars. 

 Geographical Distribution : Western North America, north to British 



Columbia, east to Great Plains, south in winter to Mexico and South 



America. 

 California Breeding Range : In Transition zone throughout the State. 

 Breeding Season : June and July. 

 Nest: Of plant fibre, rootlets, down, sage, and grass tops ; sometimes 



covered with lichens or spider webs ; in trees, from 5 to 40 feet from 



the ground. 

 JEggs : 2 to 4 ; irregularly spotted with brown and purple at the 



larger end. 



In general characteristics the Western Wood Pewee 

 does not differ much from the common wood pewee of 

 the East. Its call-note is, however, harsher and more 

 emphatic, lacking the plaintive quality of the "peeah- 

 wee " heard morning and evening in the Eastern woods. 

 It is variously described as " pee-ee," " pee-eer," "pee-ah," 



