Dusky, Gray, and Slate-colored 



Phoebe 



(Sayornis pbaebe) Flycatcher family 



Called also: DUSKY FLYCATCHER; BRIDGE PEWEE; 

 WATER PEWEE 



Length—'] inches. About an inch longer than the English sparrow. 



Male and Female— Dusky olive-brown above ; darkest on head, 

 which is slightly crested. Wings and tail dusky, the outer 

 edges of some tail feathers whitish. Dingy yellowish white 

 underneath. Bill and feet black. 



Range— North America, from Newfoundland to the South At- 

 lantic States, and westward to the Rockies. Winters south 

 of the Carolinas, into Mexico, Central America, and the 

 West Indies. 



Migrations — March. October. Common summer resident. 



The earliest representative of the flycatcher family to come 

 out of the tropics where insect life fairly swarms and teems, 

 what does the friendly little phcebe find to attract him to the 

 north in March while his prospective dinners must all be still in 

 embryo ? He looks dejected, it is true, as he sits solitary and silent 

 on some projecting bare limb in the garden, awaiting the coming 

 of his tardy mate ; nevertheless, the date of his return will not vary 

 by more than a few days in a given locality year after year. Why 

 birds that are mated for life, as these are said to be, and such de- 

 voted lovers, should not travel together on their journey north, 

 is another of the many mysteries of bird-life awaiting solution. 



The reunited, happy couple go about the garden and out- 

 buildings like domesticated wrens, investigating the crannies on 

 piazzas, where people may be coming and going, and boldly 

 entering barn-lofts to find a suitable site for the nest that it must 

 take much of both time and skill to build. 



Pewit, pbaebe, phcebe; pewit, pbcebe, they contentedly but 

 rather monotonously sing as they investigate all the sites in the 

 neighborhood. Presently a location is chosen under a beam or 

 rafter, and the work of collecting moss and mud for the founda- 

 tion and hair and feathers or wool to line the exquisite little home 

 begins. But the labor is done cheerfully, with many a sally in 

 midair either to let off superfluous high spirits or to catch a morsel 

 on the wing, and with many a vivacious outburst of what by 

 courtesy only we may name a song. v 



71 



