370 
The Phoebe 
is pleasant to sit on the porch and listen to the Veeries. Sometimes a 
dozen sing until the night shuts in upon them. 
Of all the birds, however, that visit “Bird Nest Cottage” the Phoebe '' 
is the most trustful. She and her mate may be seen at almost any time, | 
either on the veranda-railing or on some bare limb of a tree near by. ' 
When the family arrives on the fifteenth of June, the children, after 
one look in the camp, all rush out to find the Phoebe’s nest, and for j 
several years they have never been disappointed. 
Three seasons this bird built under the veranda, placing the nest on 
cross-timbers. Last summer the nest was made on the top of a window- i 
facing just under the low-hanging eaves. This place would be a very ' 
insecure foundation for a nest as large as that built by the Phoebe, as the 1 
projection is less than an inch from the side of the wall, if the nest were |l 
made of sticks and straw, but the Phoebe builds her cradle chiefly of mud, | 
so she can plaster it to the wall almost anywhere that there is just a I 
little support. Moss is usually employed in addition to the mud. j 
Four white eggs are laid. These are 'rarely adorned with a few | 
brown spots. The children, however, have never been able to discover i 
whether this particular Phoebe lays pure white eggs or whether they are I 
spotted. The reason for this is that the eggs are always hatched by the ; 
middle of June. 
All day long the plaintive pewit phoebe of the parent birds may be 
heard, and every few minutes one of them brings food to the nest. 
One night we took an electric torch and climbed down the rocks under | 
the veranda to see what the Phoebe family was doing. There, sprawled | 
all over the top of the nest, were four well-grown youngsters — ^the 
» parents were nowhere in sight. Had the little ones 
At Night been hatched only a few days we should probably have 
found the mother at home, but now there was no need 
for her presence to keep the babies warm, for they were not only nearly 
as large as their mother, but well covered with feathers. The night 
was warm, so it was more comfortable for everybody to leave the young i 
ones by themselves, while the mother roosted in a tree near by. I i 
suppose it was a great relief to her to be able to get an unbroken night’s 
rest once in a while after a hard day’s work gathering food. 
There are other camps in the neighborhood, and probably every third 
one has its pair of Phoebes. Some of the people do not like to have the 
birds around, so I have heard that they tear the nests down, but at “Bird 
Nest Cottage” Phoebes are always welcome. 
Phoebes build their nests in a great variety of places. Thus they are 
found on the joists of barns or other out-buildings ; on the cross-pieces 
of verandas; under the eaves; in culverts, or on the sides of stone walls. 
Once I knew a Phoebe that built her nest on the side of a disused open . 
well. The spot selected was about six feet below the level of the ground , 
and was protected by a broken piece of a rotting curbing. Stone piers of 
country bridges are favorite places and the bird is widely known as 
“Bridge Pewee.” 
