78 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
“ ‘ The notes of the pewee, like those of the blue- 
bird, are pleasing — not for any melody they contain, 
but from the ideas of spring and returning verdure, 
with all the sweets of this lovely season, which are 
associated with his simple but lively ditty. Toward 
the middle of June he becomes nearly silent, and 
late in the fall gives us a few farewell and melancholy 
repetitions, that recall past imagery and make the 
decayed and withered face of Nature appear still 
more melancholy/ 
“ The phoebe-bird is six and a half inches long, 
and the upper parts are of a dusky olive ; the wings 
rather darker, edged with yellowish white ; the tail 
forked, and widening peculiarly toward the end. 
‘ With many people in the country, the arrival of 
the pewee serves as a sort of almanac, reminding 
them that now it is time such-and-such work should 
be done. Whenever the pewee appears, they say, we 
may plant peas and beans in the open grounds, put 
in French beans, sow radishes, onions, and almost 
every kind of esculent garden seeds, without fear 
or danger from frosts ; for although we have some- 
times frosts after their first appearance for a night 
or two, yet not so severe as to injure the young 
plants/ 
“ The female pewee appears for the first few weeks 
after hef arrival to be on a sort of wedding-tour, as 
