KMP1DONAX MINIMUS. 183 



top of some beam, but it is oftener fastened to the side of a perpendicular wall after the 

 method practiced by the Swallows, and then mud or clay. is used to make the material ad- 

 hesive. This latter named mode of constructing their domiciles is more often employed in 

 the woods than any other. 



In Pennsylvania I have found the nest of the Bridge Pewees under the shelter of 

 overhanging rocky shelves in quarries and also beneath the projecting banks of earth along 

 the Susquehanna River. They arc remarkably abundant in the latter named section and 

 one can scarcely go a mile along the stream where suitable places occur, without finding 

 one of the neatly constructed homes of these Flycatchers. The birds appeared to be less 

 pugnacious in this particular locality for they would build in close proximity to the Rough- 

 winged Swallows that occupied the deserted holes of Kingfishers, not more than a dozen 

 yards away and both species were on excellent terms. 



The Phoebes arrive in New England, as previously remarked, very early when compar- 

 ed with other members of the family, stragglers often making their appearance in March, 

 but they become common during the first week of April. They lay their first litter of eggs 

 at least by the first of May and the young leave the nest in June. Immediately after this 

 they lay again and the second brood may be found in August in company with their parents. 

 It is also quite probable that a third brood is occasionally reared but this is not usual. As 

 the Bridge Pewees arc the first of all the Flycatchers to come into New England, so they 

 are the last to take their departure, lingering as late as the last of October. At this sea- 

 son these birds are usually silent, having apparently forgotten the lay practiced in spring. 

 Their notes are somewhat plaintive at times but are more frequently given with energy, 

 especially in early spring when the birds merely reiterate the phe-be at intervals. As the 

 season advances, they will often repeat this lay quite rapidly and on summer evenings they 

 have the habit of rising in the air by short, oblique flights, when their notes are given in 

 quick succession. This rude attempt at a vesper song resembles that made by the King 

 Birds, but the Phoebes do not indulge in it as regularly. These Flycatchers are found 

 throughout the Atlantic States in winter from the Carolinas, south, and I have seen them 

 common even at Key West. 



GENUS V. EMPIDOXAX. THE LITTLE FLYCATCHERS. 



' ! EN. Cn. Bill, considerably shorter than the head which is slightly crested but without the central coronal patch. Oul- 

 'r i/ui/h. sliyhlly incised. Tail, somewhat rounded. Upper outline of manubrmm, viewed from the side, rounded gradually 

 doirnwanl. Ibiyht of keel, a little exceeding one half the length of the coracoids. 



Colors above are dark-olivaceous, below, either white or yellowish. The markings of the bill are variable. The devel- 

 opment of the laryngeal muscles is also variable and is given under specific characters. The wings are short and rounded. 



EMPIDONAX MINIMUS. 



Least Flycatcher. 

 Empidonax minimus BAIRD, Birds N. A.; 1858, 195. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sr. Cu. Form, slender. Size, rather small. Sternum, not stout. Tongue, thin and flat but not horny, provided with 

 a hiliil tuft of cilia at tip which extend along the side for one third of the terminal length; yellow in color. Stomach, quite 



