Alabama, 1918. 59 



YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT 



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THE chat is one of our largest and most notable warblers. It is 

 a frequenter of brushy thickets and swampy new growth and, 

 while not averse to showing itself, relies more upon its voice to 

 announce its presence than upon its green and yellow plumage. Not 

 infrequently the chat sings during the night. The song, for song 

 we must call it, is an odd jumble of chucks and whistles which is 

 likely to bring to mind the quip current in the West, "Don't shoot 

 the musician ; he is doing his best ;" in this same charitable spirit we 

 must accept the song of the chat at the bird's own valuation, which, 

 we may be sure, is not low. Its nest is a rather bulky structure of 

 grasses, leaves and strips of bark and is often so conspicuously 

 placed in a low bush as to cause one to wonder how it ever escapes 

 the notice of marauders fond of birds' eggs and nestlings. 



The chat does no harm to agricultural interests, but on the 

 contrary like most of the warbler family, lives largely on insects, 

 and among them are many weevils, including the alfalfa weevil, and 

 the boll weevil so destructive to cotton. — Biological Survey Bulletin. 



WOOD PEWEE 



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IN LIFE, the pewee can best be distinguished from the larger 

 phoebe with which it is often confounded, by its sad, plaintive 

 "pe-ah-wee," "pee-wee," which is strikingly different from the 

 brusque call of the phoebe. Pewees are also found more in high, 

 dry woods where they build their little moss-covered homes on hori- 

 zontal boughs at quite a height from the ground. Like the other 

 flycatchers they always perch on dead twigs, where their view is as 

 little obstructed as possible. The nest of the pewee is one of the 

 most exquisite of bird creations, composed of plant fibres quilted 

 together and ornamented with rock lichens ; it is situated at varying 

 heights on horizontal limbs, preferably oak or chestnut, and some- 

 times in apple trees in orchards. The eggs are creamy white, 

 speckled with brown. 



