h the best of them.

_Pewee! Pewee! Peer!_

That is my song, and my mate thinks it is beautiful. She is never far
away, and always comes at my call.

Always, did I say?

No; one day, when we were busy building our nest--which is very
pretty, almost as dainty as that of our neighbor the Humming Bird--she
flew away to quite a distance to find some soft lining-stuff on which
to lay her eggs. I had been fetching and carrying all day the lichens
to put round the nest, which was hidden among the thick leaves on the
bough of a tree, and was resting by the side of it.

_Pewee! Pewee! Peer!_

"She will hear that," thought I, and again I sang it as loud as I
could.

"I'll bring that fellow down, too," said a boy, who surely had never
heard anything about our happy, innocent lives, and as I peered down
at him, he flung a large stone, which struck the bough on which I sat.
Oh, how frightened I was, and how quickly I flew away!

"He has killed my little mate," I thought. Still, I called in my
plaintive way, _Pewee! Pewee! Peer!_

A faint, low cry led me to the foot of a large tree, and there on the
ground lay my mate, struggling to rise and fly to me.

"I think my wing is broken," she sobbed. "Oh, that wicked, wicked
boy!"

I petted her with my broad, flat beak, and after a while she was able
to fly with me to our nest; but it was days and days before she was
out of pain. I am sure if that boy sees my story in BIRDS, he will
never give such an innocent _little_ creature misery again.

I dress plainly, in a coat of olive and brown, and they _do_ say my
manners are stiff and abrupt.

But my voice is very sweet, and there is something about it which
makes people say: "Dear little bird, sad little bird! what may your
name be?"

Then I answer:

_Pewee! Pewee! Peer!_

THE WOOD PEWEE.

Although one of the most abundant species, common all over the United
States, the retiring habits, plainness of dress, and quiet manners of
this little bird have caused it to be comparatively little known. Dr.
Brewer says that if noticed at all, it is generally confounded with
the common Pewee, or Phoebe bird, though a little observation is
sufficient to show how very distinct they are. The Wood Pewee will sit
almost motionless for many minutes in an erect position, on some dead
twig or other prominent perch, patiently watching for its insect prey.
While its position is apparently so fixed, however, its eyes are
constantly on