80NGLESS BIRDS OF OIWHARD AND WOODLAND. 229 



CHAPTER VI. 



SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 

 FLYCATCHERS. 



This family consists of crested songless birds, that watch 

 from dead limbs, posts, or other exposed perches, and take 

 their prey mainly on the wing. They usually sit rather 

 upright, with tail drooping, and wings in readiness for 

 instant flight. The structure of the Flycatcher's bill and 

 mouth is admirably adapted for the capture of winged insects. 

 The bill is wide at the base, and the gape is deep and sur- 

 rounded by so-called "bristles," which are of service in en- 

 trapping flying insects. While some species take nearly all 

 their food on the wing, most of them also pick up insects 

 from trees, shrubl)ery, and even from the ground. 



Nine species are found in Massachusetts, l)ut only four of 

 these are generally common summer residents ; the others 

 are either migrants, rare, or casual or local residents. 



Least Flycatcher. Chebec. 



Empidonax minim us . 



Length. — Between five and fiv^e and one-half inches. 



Adult. — Above, usually dark olive-gray, often with a tinge of brown; under 



parts nearly white, shaded on the sides like the back; yellowish on belly; 



a broad eye ruig and two wing bars yellowish-white or grayish-white. 

 Nest. — A soft cup ; usually m a crotch of bush or tree, from five to forty feet 



from the ground. 

 Eggs. — White. 

 Season. — May to August. 



This is the common little Flycatcher of the orchard, vil- 

 lage, and roadside. Its usual note, chebec', one of the char- 

 acteristic sounds of May, comes before the apple blossoms, 

 as a promise of summer. Few of these birds are seen early 

 in ]May, while the weather is cool ; but the first warm, south 

 wind usually brings a multitude, and nearly every orchard 

 harbors a pair or more. The bird sits quite upright, occa- 

 sionally throwing up its head as if to sing, as it utters its 



