LEAST FLYCATCHER 81 



the voice will recall a pleasant picture. Besides its 

 regular call of cJie-heck', the Least has several con- 

 versational notes, a call that Major Benclire gives 

 as ' s'-lick, s'-lick,' and a low, twittering warble, 

 ' whit-we-we.' If you watch the pretty bird in 

 nesting time you will see it fly to its nest, some- 

 times on a horizontal limb, but more often high 

 up in a crotch where you can just see its owner's 

 tail beyond the edge of the compact round cup. 

 Like all its family, it snaps its bill when it 

 catches a fly, and shakes its wings and tail to 

 emphasize its remarks. 



The Least is a most friendly little bird who 

 quickly responds to kindness. Doctor Brewer 

 tells of a pair that began by coming to a house 

 for cotton for their nest, and finally drew nearer 

 and nearer till they built in a clump of honey- 

 suckles in a corner of the piazza. Mr. Manly 

 Hardy also gives an interesting instance of the 

 friendliness of these attractive little folks. A 

 pair built regularly near or in his garden, and 

 seemed to remember him from year to year. 

 When he was hoeing, they would perch near by 

 and fly down beside him to catch the insects that 

 he disturbed. 



A still more remarkable case of confident 

 friendship came to my knowledge in Farmington, 

 Connecticut. The Chebec was the pet of a lady 

 whose shrubby yard had many nesting birds. 

 Almost every day through the summer, when she 



