I 
Species III. MUSCICAPA NVNCIOLA* 
PEWIT FLYCATCHER. 
[Plate XIII. Fig. 4.] 
Bartram, p. 289. — Black-cap Flycatcher, Lath. Syn. n., 353. — Phoebe Flycatcher, 
Ibid. Sup. p. 173. — Le gobe-mouche noirdtre de la Caroline, Buff, iv., 541. — 
Arct. Zool. p. 387, No. 269. 
This well-known bird is one of our earliest spring visitants, arriving 
in Pennsylvania about the first week in March, and continuing with us 
until October. I have seen thein here as late as the 12th of November. 
In the month of February I overtook these birds lingering in the low 
swampy woods of North and South Carolina. They were feeding on 
smilax berries and chanting occasionally their simple notes. The fa- 
vorite resort of this bird is by streams of water, under, or near bridges, 
in caves, &c. Near such places he sits on a projecting twig, calling out 
pe-wee, pe-wit-titee pe-wee, for a whole morning ; darting after insects, 
and returning to the same twig; frequently flirting his tail, like the 
wagtail, though not so rapidly. He begins to build about the 20th or 
25th of March, on some projecting part under a bridge— in a cave — in 
an open well five or six feet down among the interstices of the side 
walls — often under a shed — in the low eaves of a cottage, and such like 
places. The outside is composed of mud mixed with moss ; is generally 
large and solid ; and lined with flax and horse hair. The eggs are five, 
pure white, with two or three dots of red near the great end. See fig. 
4. I have known them rear three broods in one season. 
In a particular part of Mr. Bartram's woods, with which I am ac- 
quainted, by the side of a small stream, is a cave, five or six feet high, 
formed by the undermining of the water below, and the projection of 
two large rocks above : 
There down smooth glistening rocks the rivulet pours, 
Till in a pool its silent waters sleep, 
A dark browed cliff, o'ertopped with fern and flowers, 
Hangs, grimly louring, o'er the glassy deep ; 
Above through every chink the woodbines creep, 
And smooth-barked beeches spread their arms around, 
Whose roots cling twisted round the rocky steep ; 
A more sequestered scene is nowhere found, 
For contemplation deep, and silent thought profound. 
* Muscicapa fusca, Gmel. i., p. 931. — Lath. hid. Orn. n., p. 483. 
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