Evening star., 1944-06-15
This and That
By Charles E. TrGceWeu.
FALLS CHURCH. Va.

"Dear Sir:
THE nesting season was at Its peak
when the spring housecleaning was In
progress, which includes window clean
ing and the kindred job OF brushing the
stationary screens on both sides.
II was in the act Of making an espe-
cially good job of the north window of
the sunroom when discovered hand
full of grasses, chickweed and moss
fastened to the screen in such q rounded
formation became suspicious, and am
glad / did not brush IL on, as 1 first
thought It was the backwash from the
drain just above.
This nest is work of art, although
its builder is unknown to me, being
gray bird about 6 inches long, with light
,inderparts, similar to the coloring of
snowbird. but about sparrow size, no
crest. Could it be phoebe?
"I have new house guest, and have
no idea how he got in. A very loud and
steady chirp occurred when I switched
on the light in the bathroom. On NOV
ing the clothes hamper cricket was
discovered.
Nov have no score against crickets,
and I tried to put him outdoors, but so
much hopping about frustrated my ef-
forts, so decided to leave the critter
indoors. I wonder If he is as dangerous
as moth.
Your valuable column continues to
be the most interesting part of my eve
ming reading, and its priceless philos-
ophy means much to many of U.s.
Sincerely yours, o. e. c."
y u
The phoebe, or pewee, is one of our
most interesting birds.
1t should not be confused with the
wood pewee. 1t Is too bad the name
"pewee" is also used for the phoebe. The
phoebe has many other names, includ-
ing bridge pewee, the water pewee, the
barn pewee, the bean bird, pewit fly
catcher and dusky f1ycatcher. It is
bird inches long, with upper parts
grayish- olive and underparts yellowish-
white.
The wood pewee is GA inches long,
upper parts olive and lower parts gray
1sh-olive and yellow-white.
The nest of the phoebe is placed be-
meath caves and ledges, almost any
place where protection can be secured.
The nest itself is made of grasses and
mud, lined with grass, hair and feathers.
A sure sign Of the phoebe nest is the
adornment on the outside by bright
green moss. This goes back to the an
cestral days OF the species, when nests
were always in wild places. Now that
1t nests close to human habitation. the
moss Is often dead give away" but
the bird goes right ahead using it just
the same
Three to eight eggs are laid usually
five, white speckled at the large end
with brown.
The nest Of the wood pewee is mostly
found on horizontal limb of tree
placed across it like a small saddle. In
It's natural place 1t cannot be told from
a knot on the tree. This is aided bv
distance, the nest being anywhere from
10 to go feet in the air.
The nest is shallow, and is made of
grass and strips of bark and is decorated
outside with lichens. Eggs number from
two to four, usually three, white with
brown and lavender dots at the large
end. ee
Both the phoebe and the wood pewee
now find that nesting close to a human
mouse saves them from many natural
enemies.
lhe cry OF the wood pewee Is a most
interesting one. Sometimes it is lust
two syllables, hence its name, but more
often 1t is heard as "pee-a-wee." Re-
Gently we had one for about a week, It's
call being heard at all hours, soft and
Pleasantly WOODY in character, but we
| have not heard it recently.
AS Tor crlcSetS in the house, no par
hcular harm is to be expected from one
or two of them, although they will nip
| clothes now and then.
What usually eXasperates the house.
holder is the steady chirping, the rate
of which depends upon the air tenn
perature. The warmer it is, the louder
| and faster the chirps.
p "a
A.