WOOD PE WEE. 
179 
HABITS. 
Among the numerous birds which visit New England in summer, there are none that 
come with less display than the Wood Pewees. Almost all of our returning migrants an¬ 
nounce their arrival more or less ostentatiously; the flocking Blackbirds chatter loudly as 
soon as they enter the meadows, the Bobolink greets his old home with his most cheerful 
song, the notes of the Oriole seem the clearest when he sings among the blossoming cherry 
trees, and even the little Chipping Sparrow does not allow an hour to pass after he enters 
the garden without informing his old friends of his advent by uttering his peculiar notes. 
In fact, field, meadow, and woodland are ringing with the melody of newly arrived song¬ 
sters and amid this joyous outbreak, the gently given pe-wee of our somber-colored little 
friends passes almost unheeded. But later, in June, when the oaks and maples are cov¬ 
ered with delicately tinted foliage, when the ferns have fully unrolled their beautiful 
pinnate fronds, when Nature has clothed all vegetable life with her loveliest greens and the 
air in the groves is redolent with that spicy odor only to be observed in early summer, 
then the plaintive lay of the Wood Pewee is heard to perfection. It is more noticeable 
near the middle of the day when many birds are taking their noon-time siesta and naught 
is to be heard excepting the long-drawn notes of this Flycatcher which are given very 
low as if the bird was not desirous of breaking the stillness. They sing throughout the day 
all summer long, constantly reiterating their lay even during the most sultry days of 
August. 
As might be infered from the plaintive melody uttered by the Wood Pewees, they 
are rather indolent in habit when compared with the other Flycatchers. Neither are they 
quarrelsome and I cannot recall an instance when I saw one make an attack upon another 
species. This' indolence, however, is more seeming than real, it being the habit of the 
birds to go quietly about their vocations without bluster. They will perch on some high 
limb in the woods, in an upright attitude with drooping wings, but it can be seen that they 
are watching keenly all the while, for the head is turned quickly from side to side and 
the bright eyes are surveying every object far or near with microscopic exactness. Sud¬ 
denly it catches sight of a passing insect which is desirable, for the Wood Pewees are 
epicures to a certain extent as they will not eat all species of insects, then it launches out 
with an almost inconceivable swiftness, checks its rapid flight by spreading its tail to the 
utmost, and the loud snap of its beak announces that its victim has met its fate. Their 
prey is usually taken on the wing, but I have occasionally seen them picking insects from 
the branches. 
They are generally silent when feeding, the notes of which I have spoken being given 
more frequently when the birds are at leisure. Besides this call, the Wood Pewees in¬ 
dulge in a kind of song. They will alight on a limb, usually flying upward before so 
doing, and, giving a little flutter of the wings, will utter a few murmuring notes which are 
so low that they can be heard but a few yards. This peculiar lay is only given, as far as 
I have observed, in the breeding season and, as it is evidently an attempt to sing, proves 
that the birds would indulge in as melodious a carol as any of the members of the Section 
Oscines, were they not debarred by physical impossibilities. Thus in the Wood Pewee we 
