NATURE STUDY. 



Volume I. APRIL, 1899. Number 



THREE APRIL BIRDS. 



BY 



C. J. MAYNARD. 



THE PHOEBE. 



There are few birds more appropiately named than the phoebe. Clad 

 as he is in a plain suit of olive brown, with his white breast slightly 

 tinged with yellow, he would often quite escape observation, were it not 

 for his energetically given and oft repeated cry of "phoebe," a decided 

 accent being placed upon the last syllable. 



This is a flycatcher, and thus belongs to the order of songless perch- 

 ers. While we call the flycatchers " songless," we must, after all, consid- 

 er the term as comparative, for there are few birds which do not make some 

 attempt at a song, and among the flycatchers, the phoebe is no exception 

 to the rule. But the "phoebe" is only their call notes, the true song is 

 a low twitter, made by the bird during the breeding season. The male 

 will fly to some favorite perch, flutter its wings, jerk its tail, and utter 

 this rather feeble attempt at a song. 



The phoebes come early, often during the first week in April, and 

 haunt the barn yards. Soon they may be seen anxiously examining the 

 interiors of open sheds with a view of selecting some convenient beam as 

 a nesting site. Others prefer bridges or the sheltering bank of a stream. 

 Overhanging ledges are favorite places with some, and I have even seen 

 the nest attached to the upturned roots of prostrate trees. 



Wherever the phoebe builds, should the nest remain undisturbed, either 

 the same pair, or their descendants, are apt to return to the same spot 

 year after year, to breed. 



