FLYCATCHERS 



(466a) Empidonax trailli al= 



norum Brewster (Lat., alder). 



ALDER FLYCATCHER. Above 

 olive-brown; under parts whitish with 

 a wash of gray on the breast and 

 flanks and a tint of yellow on the 

 beUy. L., 5.75. Nest — Of fibres 

 in crotch of bushes; eggs creamy- 

 white with brown spots. 



Range — Breeds from Quebec and 

 Mackenzie south to N. J. and Minn. 



(467) Empidonax minimus 



{Baird) 



LEAST FLYCATCHER. A small 

 and abundant species. Olive-gray 

 above; eye ring and wing bars con- 

 spicuous. Nest — Of plant fibres in 

 crotches of trees. 



Range — Breeds from N. B., Que- 

 bec, and Mackenzie south to N. J., 

 Ind. and Mont. Winters in JMexico. 

 With us from May ist to Sept. 25th. 



in our Northern States, their presence will be unsuspected 

 until actual search discloses them. During the breeding 

 season they frequent dark swampy woods where insects 

 abound, thus enabling them to secure quantities of food and 

 absolute freedom from visitation by human beings, unless 

 it be the most enthusiastic of ornithologists. Their nests 

 are imbedded in the Itaxuriant growth of mosses with which 

 the ground and roots of trees in their haunts are covered; 

 the nest itself is made of fine rootlets and grasses, lined with 

 fern rootlets, so fine as to resemble hair. The eggs are 

 white, finely dotted with cinnamon-brown. 



ACADIAN FLYCATCHERS, of the same size as the 

 last, but with yellow confined to the flanks, are more abun- 

 dant and have a wider distribution. Like the last species, 

 they live in more or less swampy places, but their nests are 

 located in the outer, drooping branches of bushes or trees; 

 they are shallow and rather shabby structures of a few 

 rootlets, grasses and catkins, and are generally supported 

 by the rim. 



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