370 BIRDS—TYRANNIDAN. 
SAYORNIS Fuscus (Gm.) Bd. 
Pewee: Pewit: Phebe. 
Muscicapa fuscus, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 163. 
Tyrannus fuscus, READ, Fam. Visitor, iii, 1853, 359; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat Sci., 1853, 395. 
Sayornis fuscus, KIRKPATRICK, Ohio Farmer, viii, 1859, 403.—WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep., 
for 1860, 362; Reprint, 1861, 4; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 568 ; Re- 
print, 1875, 8.\— LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 10; Revised List, Journ. Cin, 
Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 177; Reprint, 11; Summer Birds, ib, iii, 1880, 225; Jonus - 
and SHULZE, Llust. Nests and Eggs, Pt. 4, 1880, Pl. X. 
Pewee, BALLOU, Field and Forest, iii, 1878, 136. 
Muscicapa fuscus, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 93. 
Tyrannus fuscus, NUTTALL, Man., i, 1840, 312. 
Sayornis fuscus, BAIRD, Birds N. Am., 1858, 184, 
Dull olivaceous brown; the head much darker fuscous-brown, almost blackish, usually 
in marked contrast with the back; below soiled whitish, or palest possible yellow, partic- 
ularly on the belly; the sides, and the breast nearly or quite across, shaded with grayish- 
brown; wings and tail dusky, the outer tail feather, inner secondaries, and usually the 
wing coverts edged with whitish; a whitish ring around the eye; bill and feet black, 
Varies greatly inshade. The foregoing is the average spring condition. As the summer 
passes, the plumage becomes much duller and darker brown, from wearing of the 
feathers, and then, after the moult, fall specimens are much brighter than in spring, 
the under parts being frequontly decidedly yellow, at least on the belly. Very young 
birds have some feathers edged with rusty, particularly on the edges of the wing and 
tail feathers. Length 62-7; wing and tail, 3-34. 
Habitat, Eastern United States and British Provinces; west to Vermillion River, or 
further; south to Mexico. 
Common summer resident. Breeds. Arrives very early, sometimes in 
February, oftener in March, and remains until late in November. 
This is, or was, one of our best known birds. Its early appearance 
and characteristic note, a frequently repeated, emphatic pe-wit, pe-wee, 
now rendered with a falling and now with a rising inflection, made it, 
with the Robin and Bluebird, a “welcome harbinger of spring.” This is 
still the case in many, perhaps most, portions of the State; but in the 
immediate vicinity of this city the bird is comparatively rarely seen 
except during its migrations. This decrease in numbers is probably 
due to the removal of favorite breeding places. Stone culverts have 
taken the place of old wooden bridges, and the “ Bridge-bird,” as it 
is sometimes called, is seldom willing to consider the former an im- 
provement; old log houses, under the roof and against the beams of 
which they were accustomed to place their nests, are removed, and 
more modern structures furnish neither convenient: nor secure nesting 
places. So the once familiar birds have become solitary and shy, seek- 
ing the stone quarry, ravine, or cliff, against the perpendicular recks of 
which they place their nest. Sometimes a singular position is chosen 
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