LAND BIRDS. 405 
forks of slender bushes and usually in very wet ground, not infrequently 
in standing water or at the very edges of streams. In this last respect 
it seems to differ from Traill’s Flycatcher, since the latter seems to be more 
partial to higher ground, and nests more often in dry situations. The nest 
consists of various soft substances and commonly contains three white or 
cream-colored eggs, spotted, sometimes quite heavily, with brown. Occa- 
sionally four eggs are found. They average .73 by .53 inches. 
The bird arrives from the south from the middle to the last of May and 
the eggs are seldom laid before the first week in June, probably ten days 
later in the Upper Peninsula. 
Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the note of this bird, but 
all observers agree that it is distinctly unlike that of any other Flycatcher. 
Brewster writes it ‘‘kée-wing;” Dwight gives ‘“ee-zeé-e-up;” Mr. F. H. 
Allen states that Dwight’s rendering seems to him nearly correct, but he 
prefers “wee-zee-up, the up very faint;” Dr. Morris Gibbs writes the call 
“‘nit-too.”’? On the few occasions when we have heard the bird there has 
been a distinct nasal or metallic twang in the note which is not suggested 
by any of the previous renderings unless it be Brewster’s ‘“ké-wing.”’ 
All observers appear to agree that the bird is partial to wet situations 
and low growths, and is seldom found in the deep woods or the dryer groves 
and orchards. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult: Upper parts clear olive or olive brown, darker on the head, where the feathers 
usually have blackish centers; throat, lower breast and middle of belly pure white; sides of 
belly and lower tail-coverts decidedly yellowish; breast olive gray, darkest on the sides, 
but distinct all the way across; two conspicuous wing-bars of grayish or buffy white, and 
the secondaries and tertiaries rather broadly edged with the same; upper mandible dark 
brown, lower mandible pale, but much darker than that of the Acadian or Yellow-bellied 
Flycatchers; iris brown. 
A large male from Marquette county gives the following measurements: Length (fresh), 
6.10 inches; wing 2.80; tail 2.50; culmen .46. A female taken at same place and time 
(June 10, 1894) gave: Length 5.80 inches; wing 2.60; tail 2.30; culmen .42. 
According to Brewster this subspecies differs from the typical Traill’s Flycatcher ‘in 
having the coloring of the upper parts richer and more olivaceous, the wing-bands yellower 
and hence more conspicuous, the bill decidedly smaller and the legs rather skorter” (Auk 
XII, 1895, 161). 
186. Least Flycatcher. Empidonax minimus (Baird). (467) 
Synonyms: Chebec, Sewick.—Tyrannula minima, Baird, 1843.—Empidonax minimus, 
Baird, 1858.—Muscicapa acadica, Nutt. 
Figure 95. 
So similar to the three preceding species as to be separated with difficulty, 
but the Least Flycatcher is smaller than any of the others and the wing bars 
are nearly pure white. Its note, well expressed by the common name 
“Chebec”, with strong accent on the last syllable, is distinctive; it is also 
the only one of our flycatchers which lays unspotted eggs, the color being 
ee tn SCR eastern North America, west to eastern Colorado 
and central Montana, south in winter to Central America. Breeds from 
th thern states northward. ag 
Tn: Michieen the Least Flycatcher seems to be universally distributed, 
