was great. " How do you know this ?" he asked, " for," continued he,
" you are correct.""—" Simply," answered I, " because I hear the notes
of the Pewee, and know that a cave, or a deep rocky creek, is at hand."
We moved on; the Pewees rose from under the bridge in numbers; I
pointed to the spot and won the wager.
This rule of observation I have almost always found to work, as arithmeticians
say, both ways. Thus the nature of the woods or place in
which the observer may be, whether high or low, moist or dry, sloping
north or south, with whatever kind of vegetation, tall trees of particular
species, or low shrubs, will generally disclose the nature of their inhabitants.
The flight of the Pewee Flycatcher is performed by a fluttering light
motion, frequently interrupted by sailings. It is slow when the bird is
proceeding to some distance, rather rapid when in pursuit of prey. It
often mounts perpendicularly from its perch after an insect, and returns to
some dry twig, from which it can see around to a considerable distance.
It then swallows the insect whole, unless it happen to be large. It will
at times pursue an insect to a considerable distance, and seldom without
success. It alights with great firmness, immediately erects itself in the
manner of hawks, glances all around, shakes its wings with a tremulous
motion, and vibrates its tail upwards as if by a spring. Its tufty crest is
generally erected, and its whole appearance is neat, if not elegant. The
Pewee has its particular stands, from which it seldom rambles far. The
top of a fence stake near the road is often selected by it, from which it
sweeps off in all directions, returning at intervals, and thus remaining the
greater part of the morning and evening. The corner of the roof of the
barn suits it equally well, and if the weather requires it, it may be seen
perched on the highest dead twig of a tall tree. During the heat of the
day it reposes in the shade of the woods. In the autumn it will choose
the stalk of the mullein for its stand, and sometimes the projecting angle
of a rock jutting over a stream. It now and then alights on the ground
for an instant, but this happens principally during winter, or while engaged
during spring in collecting the materials of which its nest is composed,
in our Southern States, where many spend their time at this season.
I have found this species abundant in the Floridas in winter, in full
song, and as lively as ever, also in Louisiana and the Carolinas, particularly
in the cotton fields. None, however, to my knowledge, breed
south of Charlestown in South Carolina, and very few in the lower parts
of that State. They leave Louisiana in February, and return to it in
October. Occasionally during winter they feed on berries of different
kinds, and are quite expert at discovering the insects impaled on thorns
by the Loggerhead Shrike, and which they devour with avidity. I met
with a few of these birds on the Magdeleine Islands, on the coast of Labrador,
and in Newfoundland.
The nest of this species bears some resemblance to that of the Barn
Swallow, the outside consisting of mud, with which are firmly impacted
grasses or mosses of various kinds deposited in regular strata. It is lined
with delicate fibrous roots, or shreds of vine bark, wool, horse-hair, and
sometimes a few feathers. The greatest diameter across the open mouth
is from five to six inches, and the depth from four to five. Both birds
work alternately, bringing pellets of mud or damp earth, mixed with moss,
the latter of which is mostly disposed on the outer parts, and in some instances
the whole exterior looks as if entirely formed of it. The fabric is
firmly attached to a rock, or a wall, rthe rafter of a house, &c. In the
barrens of Kentucky I have found the nests fixed to the side of those
curious places called sink-holes, and as much as twenty feet below the surface
of the ground. I have observed that when the Pewees return in
spring, they strengthen their tenement by adding to the external parts
attached to the rock, as if to prevent it from falling, which after all
it sometimes does when several years old. Instances of their taking
possession of the nest of the Republican Swallow (Hirundo fulva) have
been observed in the State of Maine. The eggs are from four to six,
rather elongated, pure white, generally with a few reddish spots near the
larger end.
In Virginia, and probably as far as New York, they not unfrequently
raise two broods, sometimes three, in a season. My learned
friend, Professor NUTTALL, of Cambridge College, Massachusetts, thinks
that the Pewee seldom raises more than one brood in the year in that
State.
This species ejects the hard particles of the wings, legs, abdomen, and
other parts of insects, in small pellets, in the manner of owls, goatsuckers
and swallows.
VOL. II. i