42 TYRANNID^ : FLYCATCHERS. 



note, the peculiar chebec' , cadet', or sewick' , of which the 

 various New England writers speak. Remaining through 

 the summer to breed, the little bird migrates southward 

 in September, not entirely withdrawing until about the 

 end of that month. 



The nests and eggs of the Least Flycatcher have 

 been described with particularity ' by Dr. Coues, whose 

 account (Birds Northwest, p. 255) is transcribed in sub- 

 stance. The bird generally nests in a sapling or shrub, 

 ten or twelve feet from the ground, — but sometimes 

 scarcely more than a man's height, and in other in- 

 stances up to forty feet. The nest is placed in an up- 

 right crotch formed by two or several twigs generally 

 no thicker than one's finger. In one case it was on the 

 bending trunk of an elm, but rested, as usual, among a 

 set of upright twigs. It is very deeply let down into 

 the crotch, and usually bears their deep impressions. 

 The female is so close a sitter, that sometimes she may 

 almost be taken in hand before she deserts her charge ; 

 and then she only flutters to a little distance and moves 

 uneasily about, uttering a low mournful note. The nest 

 is a neat little structure, with a basis of fine fibrous 

 inner bark and decomposed substance of various weeds, 

 matted with plant-down into a soft, warm, yet firm struct- 

 ure, finished internally with a special lining of plant 

 down, confined with a slight layer of horse-hair or the 

 finest possible grass-tops. The frame of the nest is 

 well finished and even, with circular disposition of the 

 fibres composing it, while the lining material is inter- 

 laced in all directions. These elegant structures vary 

 in size from two and a half inches across outside and 

 less than two in depth, to nearly three inches in both 

 these dimensions. The cavity is large for the bulk of 



