154 Bird-Lore
and seemed not at all shy. though keeping a sharp look-out for the wel- fare of their young.
The next morning the young took their first flight. already seeming quite expert. and choosing bare twigs to perch on. like all their race. They gave the characteristic. three —syllabled call clearly the first day. though more softly than their parents. For more than a week the family kept together near the nest. The last part of the time there seemed to be a good deal of flutter and scolding going on. I think the old ones were try- ing to induce the young to catch their own game.
The nest was-a very frail structure, open and flat. consisting of gray fir-twigs laid rather than woven. and quite without fixing together. The parents must have depended on the thick fir-needles for keeping the eggs and young from falling to the ground. Another nest was placed very near the top of a tall fir-tree. also. near the tip of a small branch. This was nearly two hundred feet from the ground. [should judge. The flight and actions of the old birds as they fed their young were unmistakable. This tree was also situated near a skeleton fir that gave a wide outlook for the parents while hunting. and contained. besides, the nest of a Robin and of a Cassin's Purple Finch.
By August 24. all birds of this kind had disappeared from the neighbor- hood. where the absence of their loud. incessant calls gave the eflect of almost utter silence. They were probably starting slowly with the young birds on their long migration. but there had been no frost. nor was there any perceptible diminution in the number of insects.
If the note of the Olive»sided Flycatcher was the prevailing sound in the evening. the western Wood Pewee. with its monotonous plaint. made up the body of the morning chorus in Iuly and August. This note is not easy to spell in letters. It has been variously given as "peér." "pe'e»wee" and "sweer." I think "dré-ear” is better suited to the expression. The most noticeable quality is the despairing emphasis on the first syllable. as if it were forced out with the last gasp of agony. l defy any one to remain cheerful with this sound ringing in his ears at all hours of the day.
At Tahoe these birds were far more common than the larger Olivevsided Flycatcher. They did not come into conflict with them. however. for they chose a slightly different haunt. Instead of the open woods of ancient trees on the shore of the lake. they preferred the annually flooded meadows back from the shore. covered with a growth of young tamarack trees. many of which were dead or dying. These moist. wooded meadows were swarming with mosquimes and other insects, which attracted many birds.
This Flycatcher would sit very straight and slim on a bare twig, turning his head incessantly and every few seconds uttering his cry.
Their favorite nesting site was a dead tamarack. stripped by the weather of its bark. A verv conspicuous object in this situation one would expect
