NATURE STUDY. 
A MONTHLY BULLETIN OF THE 
Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. 
Vol. I. JUNE, 1900 . No. 1 . 
The Phoebe and the Pewee. 
BY THEODORA RICHARDSON. 
With the awakening of brooks, and new life showing in the 
tender green of willow shoots, and poplar trunks, the coral red 
of maples, and grassy green on southern slopes, March cheers 
bird lovers with a few carols of the bluebirds, bright windy 
chatterings of the redwings, and orchard choruses of fox-spar¬ 
rows and other migrants. 
Among these we at last hear the sweet, trustful notes of the 
Phoebe, who holds an undisputed place in our affections. He 
is reported to arrive in Cambridge about March 25, and would 
reach here perhaps a week later. This year our first sight of 
him was April 14. Perched upon a “corn-barn,” that remnant 
of New England thrift, he was pouring out the Phoebe note in 
that incessant drawl of his. 
In the niches of the hand-hewn timbers of the corn-barn, we 
found two dainty Phoebe nests of mud, fine rootlets, and hairs, 
with soft interlining of downy feathers. From the nature of 
their position they were unharmed by wind and weather. 
One day a Connecticut farmer called the attention of Bur- 
