Least Flycatcher 105 



numerously in the early Spring. It is found here through the 

 breeding season, but no nests have been discovered, to my 

 knowledge. The nest is made of grass, placed on the ground, 

 and contains three or four eggs, bluish-gray, finely speckled 

 with light grayish-brown. 



SUBORDER CLAMATORES 

 Family Tyrannidae 



Least Flycatcher; Chebec. — Empidonax minimus. 



5.40 



Common Summer Resident 



Field marks. — Upper parts olive-green with tinge of gray; 

 under parts ashy-white; belly very slightly washed with 

 yellow; two whitish wing-bars. 



Did you ever climb up into the protecting arms of some 

 old apple tree and discover there, amidst the pink and white 

 blossoms and tender yellow-green leaves, the lovely little nest 

 of the Chebec ? That is how, in the long ago, I found my first 

 Least Flycatcher's nest, and as I gazed at the grayish cup 

 with its four creamy-white eggs, I wondered which was the 

 most marvelous, the tiny bird's creation, the blue sky beyond it, 

 or the blossoms that hung over it, like a bridal canopy. 



The apple tree was on my grandmother's farm, and woven 

 into the nest were two nice feathers from one of my grand- 

 mother's white hens. Chebec lives in Albany County from 



