232 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



is deceptive, for the Pewee is evidently happy, and deligh 

 in its plaintive tones. Its common call is pee'-u-wee' , fc 

 lowed frequently hy pe'e'-er , uttered in a drawling manne 



and with considerable interva 

 between the phrases. Bendi 

 says that the male has a \o\ 

 twittering warble in the matir 

 season. The bird also twits ar 

 twitters from time to time. 

 The nest merits more than the usu 

 brief description. It is usually sad^h 

 on a dead limb, the outside adornei 

 like that of the Hummingbird's ne's 

 with crustaceous lichens, so that wh< 

 seen from below it looks like a knot c 

 the branch. It is largely made of fii 

 grasses and fibers, and often lined wi 

 them. As the nest is not deep, ai 

 rests on the top of the branch, tl 

 bottom is usually so thin that it wou 

 fall out were it not supported by the bark. 



The food of the Pewee consists very largely of flyir 

 insects, but it often flutters about the 

 foliage, picking off caterpillars and plant 

 lice. Daily in the early morning and 

 in the dusk of evening, even in the un- 

 certain gloom of the deep woods, this 

 bird pursues its prey unerringly. Fly- 

 ing beetles and ants, butterflies and 



moths, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, — all a: 

 taken. The Pewee is useful in the d 

 struction of small moths and their laxvf 

 The male cankerworm moths, tusso( 

 moths, Tortricid moths, and gipsy mot' 

 are commonly eaten, while the young bir 

 are fed largely at times on cankerworm 

 This bird takes some parasitic flies, ai 

 Bendire records an instance where it p 

 fered young trout from a hatchery. 



Fig. 90. — Wood Pewee, 

 one-half natural size. 



Fig. 91. — Tortricid 

 leaf-rolling moth, na 

 ral size. 



Fig. 02. — Tussock 

 or vaporer moth, 

 natural size. 



