Dusky, Gray, and Slate-colored 



lowish-white tufts of feathers on its flanks. Its habits have the 

 family characteristics: It takes its food on the wing, suddenly 

 sallying forth from its perch, darting about midair to seize its 

 prey, then as suddenly returning to its identical point of vantage, 

 usually in some distended, dead limb in the tree-top; it is pug- 

 nacious, bold, and tyrannical; mopish and inert when not on the 

 hunt, but wonderfully alert and swift when in pursuit of insect 

 or feathered foe. The short necks of the flycatchers make their 

 heads appear large for their bodies, a peculiarity slightly em- 

 phasized in this member of the family. 



High up in some evergreen tree, well out on a branch, over 

 which the shapeless mass of twigs and moss that serves as a 

 nest is saddled, four or five buff-speckled eggs are laid, and by 

 some special dispensation rarely fall out of their insecure cradle. 

 A sharp, loud whistle, when — o-wheu-o-wheu-o, rings out from the 

 throat of this olive-sided tyrant, warning all intruders off the 

 premises ; but however harshly he may treat the rest of the 

 feathered world, he has only gentle devotion to offer his brooding 

 mate. 



Least Flycatcher 



(Empidonax minimus) Flycatcher family 



Called also: CHEBEC 



Length — 5 to 5.5 inches. About an inch smaller than the English 

 sparrow. 



Male — Gray or olive-gray above, paler on wings and lower part 

 of back, and a more distinct olive-green on head. Under- 

 neath grayish white, sometimes faintly suffused with pale 

 yellow. Wings have whitish bars. White eye-ring. Lower 

 half of bill horn-color. 



Female — Is slightly more yellowish underneath, 



i?a«^f— Eastern North America, from tropics nor*^ward to Quebec. 



Migrations — May. September. Common suminer resident. 



This, the smallest member of its family, takes the place of 

 the more southerly Acadian flycatcher, throughout New England 

 and the region of the Great Lakes. But, unlike his Southern rela- 

 tive, he prefers orchards and gardens close to our homes for his 

 hunting grounds rather than the wet recesses of the forests. 

 Che-bec, che-bec, the diminutive olive-pated gray sprite calls out 



75 



