The Phoebe 
in the neighborhood, although he is probably aware of all that takes 
place. As for the eggs, they are so snugly bedded in rabbit-fur that the 
mother may absent herself for hours at a time with impunity, and she 
is thus perfectly able to do her own fly-catching. At the moment of 
hatching, however, the male parent becomes all attention, and he takes 
his full share of responsibility in feeding and tending the young. 
The eggs of these Flycatchers, as of the entire Crested Flycatcher 
group (genus Mylarchits, with the closely related Myiodynastes), are 
among the quaintest and most engaging oological treasures. As a group 
they form the most notable, and we may say stubborn, exceptions to 
the general rule that eggs laid in holes are white, or tend to become so. 
The eggs of the Ash-throated Flycatcher are of a pinkish buff or cream- 
color as to ground, heavily marked—spotted or short-streaked in 
crisscross and longitudinal pattern—with dull red (haematite red). 
The markings are rather finer and less abundant than those of eastern 
Crested Flycatchers (.Myiarchus crinitus ), and their longitudinal pro¬ 
longation is never so pronounced; but they belong to the same order 
of beauty. No clew is at hand to account for the exceptionally rich 
coloration of these eggs, born to blush unseen in fur-lined caves; and in 
spite of the universal hole-haunting habits of the birds, the tendency 
would seem to be toward increased richness and variety in the pigmenta¬ 
tion of the egg, rather than away from it. 
No. 169 
Phoebe 
A. O. U. No. 456. Sayornis phoebe (Latham). 
Synonyms. — Eastern Phoebe. Pewee (name should be restricted to Myio- 
chanes Virens '). Bridge Pewee. Pewit Flycatcher. Phoebe-bird. 
Description. — Adult: Pileum brownish black, shading on cervix into olive- 
brown of remaining upperparts; quills and tail brownish dusky; some margining of 
grayish brown or olive-buffy on greater coverts and secondaries; underparts sordid 
whitish or dingy greenish yellow, shaded on sides of breast and irregularly across breast 
with olivaceous; chin with some admixture of dusky, and sides of throat shading. Bill 
and feet brownish black. Length about 152.4 (6.00); wing 85 (3.35); tail 70 (2.755); 
bill 14.5 (.57); tarsus 18.5 (.728). 
Recognition Marks. —Small sparrow size; general outline and behavior much 
like that of our Black Phoebe, from which it is readily distinguishable by its dingy 
olive-brown upper plumage and softly shading underparts—without pure white. 
Nesting. —Does not breed in California. Nest: A thick-walled cup or bracket 
of moss and mud, lined with plant-down, fine grasses and horsehair; placed upon beam 
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