FLYCATCHERS 191 



Greensboro, October 24 (1890) ; and Bon Secour, October 19 

 (1908). Golsan has found eggs at Autaugaville on May 30, 

 and McCormack records them from Leighton on June 15 

 and July 5. 



General habits. — This is a gentle, confiding bird, much be- 

 loved for its attractive ways. It is partial to dry upland 

 woods, and often lives in groves and orchards close to dwelling 

 houses. Its song is a soft, plaintive, drawling whistle, sound- 

 ing like the syllables "pee-a-wee." It is a most persistent 

 singer, heard at all hours of the day, even in the heated period 

 of midsummer, when most birds are silent. In the early 

 morning and late evening hours the song is delivered with 

 more vigor and with considerable variations. It captures 

 most of its food on the wing, after the manner of the other 

 flycatchers, and rarely descends to the ground. 



The wood pewee builds an artistic nest of grasses, covered 

 with lichens, which it saddles firmly on a horizontal limb, 

 sometimes quite near the ground, again at a considerable 

 height. Dr. Avery mentions a nest found at Greensboro, May 

 24, 1890, in a hickory, 60 feet above the ground, and another. 

 May 6, 1893, 100 feet up in a pine. 



Food habits. — Nearly 99 per cent of the food of this bird 

 is composed of animal matter, chiefly insects, with a few 

 spiders. Examination in the Biological Survey of 359 stom- 

 achs of this bird showed that Hymenoptera (including ants, 

 bees, wasps, and related insects) made up over 25 per cent 

 of the total food, and Diptera (including house flies, horse 

 flies, and other species) about 30 percent. Moths, caterpil- 

 lars, grasshoppers, bugs, and beetles made up the remainder 

 of the insect food. The vegetable food is composed of a few 

 kinds of wild berries, including poke berries, elderberries, 

 blueberries, and berries of the dogwood and poison ivy.J 



YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER: Empidonax flavi- 

 ventris (W. M. and S. F. Baird). 



State records. — The yellow-bellied flycatcher is a rare and 

 inconspicuous member of the fauna of Alabama, occurring 

 only as a migrant in spring and fall. McCormack records a 



JBeal. F. E. L., Biol. Surv. Bull. 44, U. S. Dept. Agr., pp. 44-49, 1912. 



