



AMERICAN OSPREY 



) 



VOL. 1. 



ASHLAND, KY., DECEMBER, 1S90. 



NO. 12. 



BIRD STUDIES.— VIII. 



THE WOOD PEWEE, 



BY PICUS. 



Upon going into any piece of woods in 

 summer, ones attention is sure to be at- 

 tracted by the plaintive drawling voice 

 of the Wood Pewee. To the eye he is 

 only a smaller copy of the common Pe- 

 wee. He sits well up in a tree waiting 

 till his insect food comes along, when he 

 deftly snaps it up in a short, circling 

 flight. 



It is apparent that this bird was de- 

 signed expressly to fill up the places in 

 nature left vacantby his larger relations. 

 The deep woodlands are his favorite 

 haunts, though he also frequents the or- 

 chards and the tall trees along city 

 streets. His disposition resembles that 

 of the common Pewee. In the presence 

 of man he is not at all shy, but is pos- 

 sessed of a certain reserve in manner. 



The Wood Pewee has not much music- 

 al ability, his energies being devoted to 

 repeating "pe-wee" or u pe-er-wee;" the 

 first with a fine falling inflection on the 

 last syllable, the latter with the last syl- 

 lable on an upward turn. Although not 

 a varied singer he is a most persistent 

 one and throughout the hot summer 

 months, rivals the Vireo in making our 

 groves musical. As other bird-voices 

 gradually become silent, the Pewee's 

 voice rings out the louder for the con- 

 trast. No amount of warmpth can si- 

 lence him; in the heat of an August noon 

 he calls as loudly as ever. At this season 

 the voice of the Pewee is most noticable 

 in the woods, and on that account the 

 bird is always associated, in my memory, 

 with the cool depths of the pine woods. 



Of the bird-voices heard in our city 

 shrub- trees during July and August, the 



PeAvee's voice comes second on the list, 

 the Vireo, only exceeding him in volu- 

 bility. The listener may hear the call 

 for hours without seeing the bird which 

 is hidden some where in the green 

 depths about. 



The Pewee's nest is a marvel of bird- 

 architecture. A tree in the woods or or- 

 chard is chosen to build in; the nest be- 

 ing placed at some height from the 

 ground. In order to make it harmonize 

 as much as possible with its surround- 

 ings, the bird cunningly covers the out- 

 side with gray lichens. At a little dis- 

 tance it looks exactly like a mossy knot. 

 The inside is often lined with the green, 

 thread-like lichens that grow on dead 

 trees and would deceive even the sharp- 

 eyed squirrels. 



The eggs are three or four in number, 

 cream colored, blotched with brown and 

 lilac at the larger end. 



THE RED-BREASTED 

 NUTHATCH. 



The Ped-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta can- 

 adensis) occurs in this locality as a spring 

 and fall migrant, although it may be 

 rarely seen in midwinter in company 

 with its white-breasted cousin. Jt is 

 during the last of April or first of May 

 that we are most apt to see his pleasing 

 little form as he tarries a lew days in bis 

 northward flight. He is by no means 

 plentiful, but transversely, quite the 

 contrary. 



Nover but once have I noticed them 

 here in winter, and that was on Febru- 

 ary 22d., 1889. With the thermometer at 

 about o2°, and a brisk, west wind tilling 

 the eyes with the snow that was rapidly 

 (( 'on tinned on 2<1 page.) 



