Phoebe

fe'be, or Pewee, a familiar bird of the flycatcher family. The phoebe bird takes its name from its "humble monotones." It is a trusting, quiet bird, building its nest of moss and mud, lined with grass and long hairs, on beams or rafters about houses, barns, and bridges. The nest is repaired and occupied from year to year. Four to six white eggs are sometimes spotted with cinnamon at the larger end. The phoebe is about seven inches in length, with olivacious upper parts and whitish under parts. It may be distinguished from other birds by its black bill and a white margin half a feather in width on each side of its forked tail. It is a lively bird. It sails about the barnyard, living on insects caught dexterously on the wing. In the latitude of Iowa, the phoebes arrive from the south in April. After the nest is made ready and the eggs laid, about thirty days are required to hatch the young and enable them to fly. Some night in October the family takes flight for the Gulf States. See Wood Pewee