WOOD-PEWHE. 
CONTOPUS VIRENS. 
HE wood-pewee’s few notes, so peculiar, so solemn, so 
long, so slow and gliding in movement, and so de- 
vout withal, distinguish its song sharply from that of all 
other birds, except, perhaps, the song of the titmouse. The 
effect of the pewee’s singing is decidedly religious, remind- 
ing one of the worship of the “ Free-willers,” who, long 
ago, sang their hymns and half sang their prayers and 
exhortations on the shores of Lake Winipiseogee. The 
song closes with such unction that the scoffer is com- 
pelled to join in the final Amen : — 
The portamento is used in this song with wonderful 
skill and power. 
The wood-pewee is a tame bird, yet active and coura- 
geous. He darts and swoops through the air, frequently 
snapping up insects on his course. As he swiftly passes, 
you think you will not see him again; but he returns, 
and, alighting not far from the perch that he left, takes 
up the sacred strain. Does some strange bird happen 
near at the moment, the devotions are interrupted; the 
