Part 20

Resembles the Kingbird but is lighter gray, and the tail lacks the conspicuous white tip.

Range. West Indies, nesting north through Florida to southeastern South Carolina; winters to South America; reaches Florida early in May.

A not uncommon summer resident in parts of Florida and the coastal region of Georgia and South Carolina, with the general habits and appearance of our Kingbird, but with a quite different call which suggests the words pitírri-pitírri. It nests in May, laying four salmon-colored eggs, marked with dark brown and lilac.

CRESTED FLYCATCHER

Myiarchus crinitus. Case 7, Fig. 5

The reddish brown tail-feathers may sometimes be seen and the crest is usually evident. L. 9.

Range. Eastern North America; nests from Florida to Canada; winters in the tropics, reaching Florida on its northward journey in March.

Washington, very common S.R., Apl. 20-Sept. 29. Ossining, common S.R., May 7-Sept. 12. Cambridge, rare S.R., May 15-Sept. 11. N. Ohio, common S.R., Apl. 25-Sept. 15. Glen Ellyn, not common S.R., May 1-Sept. 18. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 25.

A character of the woods distinguished alike by appearance, voice and habits. His crested head seems too big for his body; his exclamatory whistle, which sounds like a shout above a monotone of conversation, his habit of always lining his nest with a cast-off snake skin, all mark him as an odd genius. Even his wife's eggs, with their long chocolate streaks, are quite unlike any other birds' eggs. They are laid in a hole in a tree in May or June.

PHOEBE

Soyornis phoebe. Case 4, Fig. 52; Case 5, Fig. 15

Head slightly crested, somewhat darker than body. In the fall the underparts are tinged with yellow. L. 7.

Range. Eastern North America; nests from northern Mississippi and northwestern Georgia to Canada; winters from South Carolina to Mexico. The only Flycatcher to winter in the eastern United States and hence the first to reach us in the spring.

Washington, common S.R., Feb. 25-Oct.; occasionally winters. Ossining, common S.R., Mch. 14-Oct. 29. Cambridge, common T.V., and not uncommon S.R., Mch. 25-Oct. 10. N. Ohio, common S.R., Mch. 14-Oct. 15. Glen Ellyn, S.R., Mch. 13-Oct. 6. SE. Minn., common S.R., Mch. 22-Oct. 11.

The Phoebe is the best known member of a group of small Flycatchers which the beginner, and not infrequently the advanced student, names with more or less uncertainty. Fortunately for the field student, and as if to compensate for their close resemblance in plumage, they all possess distinctive, quite unlike, and easily recognizable calls, and consequently can readily be identified by their voices if not by their colors.

The Phoebe shows so marked a fondness for our society, nesting under our piazzas, in barns or outbuildings, and calls his pewit-phoebe so plainly, wagging his tail the while in a friendly, sociable kind of a way, that there is never any doubt about his identity; but we will not make the acquaintance of his less common, less confiding relatives so readily.

The Phoebe's 4-6 white eggs (rarely with a few brown spots) are laid the latter half of April.

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER

Nuttalornis borealis. Case 8, Fig. 59

With the general appearance of a large Phoebe, but with the breast and sides the color of the back, and a tuft of white feathers on each flank. L. 7-1/2.

Range. North America; nests from northern New England northward (southward in the Alleghanies to North Carolina); winters in the tropics.

Washington, casual T.V. Ossining, tolerably common T.V., May 20; Aug. 15-Sept. 16. Cambridge, rare T.V., May 20-June 6; formerly not uncommon S.R., one Sept. record. Glen Ellyn, not common T.V., May 13-June 11; Aug. 11-Sept. 15. SE. Minn., common T.V., May 10-Sept. 9.

To most of us the Olive-sided is known as a rare migrant passing northward in May, among the later transients, and southward in September. When traveling the bird retains the fondness of its kind for perching on tall tree-tops, but its loud, unmistakable, whistled "come right here, come right here" is usually heard only on the nesting ground.

The nest is placed in coniferous trees about 25 feet up, and 3-5 white, brown-spotted eggs are laid in June.

WOOD PEWEE

Myiochanes virens. Case 8, Fig. 63

Resembles the Phoebe but is smaller with relatively longer wings and more evident wing-bars. L. 6-1/2.

Range. Eastern North America; nesting from Florida to Canada; winters in the tropics.