THE LEAST FLYCATCHER. 333 
almost invariably selects a conning tower on some naked or dead limb which 
commands a wide sweep of mosquito territory. He is the least timid, or per- 
haps we would better say he is the most confiding of his race. Conscious of 
right motives himself, he is slow to think evil of others, and does not hesitate 
to occupy a convenient station from which he may observe your business with 
pleased interest, while not forgetting his own. ‘Then if you are not ready to 
admit that he is the dearest bird, it must be conceded that he is a little the 
noisiest member of a group in which this distinction is easy and not unflattering. 
Sewick—sewick, or as some prefer to hear it, che-bec, sounds frequently in a 
very business-like tone of voice from the tip of the dead branch which serves 
the bird as a base of operations. 
The drooping wings and a general air of dejection which distinguish this 
little Flycatcher at rest, are promptly contradicted both by the energy of the 
bird’s utterance, and by the spirited sorties which are made after passing 
insects. Sometimes a whole host of midges is encountered and then the little 
mandibles go snip, snip, snip, like barbers’ shears in skillful hands. 
There is also an ecstatic fliglit cry, which occurs either as the result of 
the excitement of rivalry or the chase, or as a tender passage in courtship, and 
which almost lays claim to being considered song. During its delivery the 
bird rises from its perch, flutters its wings rapidly and turns around slowly in 
the air, while it utters an incoherent series of screaming gasps: Sewick, tooral, 
sewick tooral, sewick, tooral-ooral. 
The Least Flycatcher is to be found almost anywhere during the spring 
migrations, but orchards, second-growth clearings, and brushy hillsides are 
favorite places. The up-trip is made in rather leisurely fashion, and the birds 
sometimes linger long enough to encourage the idea that they are going to 
nest. Mr. I. A. Field saw two of these birds at the Licking Reservoir on 
May goth, and Professor Johnson of Granville believes that a pair of them have 
nested for several years past in front of his house. 
If the nest is discovered in the state, as it is altogether likely to be, it will 
be found in an upright fork of some bush or sapling, a very neat structure built 
somewhat after the manner of a Redstart’s; and the pure white eges will make 
identification easy and certain. 
The return journey takes place early in September or late in August. It 
is, however, an open question whether birds seen August 24th, 1902, in Meigs 
County, were early migrants or summer residents. 
