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Wood Pewee
Adult--Upper parts dark olive brown, more or less tinged with dull green; wings dull brown with two white bars; under parts pale gray, slightly tinged with yellow. Length--6.50.
Breeding Range--Throughout the Eastern States.
The nest is a compact structure, with a thin floor and fairly thick low sides. It is composed of fine grass, moss, and strips of bark, with a coating of lichen fastened on the outside with fine webs, and is saddled on a branch or sometimes placed in a fork at from ten to fifty feet from the ground. Usually a large tree is chosen, and the nest is often placed near the extremity of a branch. 3 to 4 eggs are laid; they are white or pale buff, with spots of various shades of brown and lilac forming a wreath about the larger end. Size--.70 x .54. See Fig. I, Plate D.
These little flycatchers, who hide their nests so carefully on the branch of a tree, are found chiefly in the woods. Their peculiarly plaintive note sounds as though they were always brooding over some great sorrow, and yet there is no reason for supposing them less happy than others of the feathered tribes. Next to the phoebe, they are probably the tamest of the flycatchers. I have known one to build her nest within three feet of a window near which people frequently sat during many hours of the day, but she never seemed to object to the close scrutiny to which she was frequently subjected.
The breeding season begins from the latter part of May to the middle of June, according to locality.