312 NESTS AND EGOS OF 



catcher during tte breed jng season. Wherever found breeding E. t. alnorum is more 

 abundant than is generally supposed, but from its retiring habits is little known. 

 Our illustration represents a typical nest of Alder Flycatcher, taken in June, 1885, 

 placed in a clump of alders. They are scarcely ever placed higher than eight feet 

 from the ground; in most cases about four. In nearly all instances they are built 

 in an upright fork, and have a strong resemblance to the usual structure of the 

 Yellow Warbler, but lack in compactness and neatness. The external or greater 

 portion of the nest is compbsed of hempen fibres, internally lined in true Flycatcher 

 style with fine grasses. In some, however, there is a slight lining of horse-hair and 

 of the down from the milk-weed oi* thistle. A typical nest measures two and a 

 half inches in height and three in diameter,, with a cavity, one inch and a half in 

 diameter and two inches deep'. , Three eggs is the usual complement, although four 

 is not uncommon, and they are often found in varying stages of incubation! The 

 ground-color of the eggs is extremely variable. ' In some it is .of a crearn, in others 

 approhching.buff. In four sets there is a striking variation in the distribution of the 

 markings. They are usually marked, chiefly at.the larger end, with blotcfips of red 

 and reddish- tirown, and ,\vhile in somf the' markings are simply very small dots 

 sparingly sprinkled over the surface, in, others these dottings are scarcely visible, 

 giving. them' the appearance of an almost unspotted surface. Six eggs exhibit the 

 foUowing^measuremehts: .'72x;55, .70x.53, .70x52, ,64x.53, !69x.52, .7Qx.53. An aver- 

 age specimen measures .73x.53. The eggs of E, i. alnorum are paler in ground-color 

 and markings than those of virescens, but 'the difference is so slight that no one can 

 differentiate them with certainty. 



467. LEAST FIiYCAT^HEIl. ^mpidonax minimus Baird. Geog. Dist. — 

 Chiefly Eastern North America west to Eastern Colorado and Central Montana, 

 south in winter through Central America. Breeds from the Northern States north- 

 ward. 



In all the States between the Atlantic and the Great Plains the Least Flycatcher 

 is an abundant species, occurring) as a migrant and breeding from about, 40° latitude 

 northward. Breeds abundantly in New EnglaniJ and throughout all the Northern 

 States — New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc. An abundant summer resi- 

 dent in Manitoba. Adult and young specimens have been taken at San Angelo, 

 Texas, during the breeding season. It is reported as breeding commonly at Fannin 

 county, Texas, and sometimes in the State of Nebraska. The bird frequents the 

 borders of woods and thickets, particularly the edges of lowland forests and the 

 more open swamps. The nest, commonly placed in an upright fork of a small tree or 

 sapling, sometimes on a horizontal limb, is small, compact and felted of fine, soft 

 materials — bark-fibres, intermingled with vegetable down, lined with fine grasses 

 and shreds of bark, or, as is frequently the case, with a few feathers. The nest 

 bears a strong resemblance to that of the Redstart, and the eggs canot be mistaken 

 for those of any of our Flycatchers of the' Eastern States, as they are wholly unlike 

 any of them. They are normally pure white or buffy-white, unmarked, rarely 

 speckled; their number is sometimes only two or three, usually four, and their 

 average size is .65x.50. Seven eggs measure .60x.50, .62x.50, .64x.51, .e4x.52, .65x.53, 

 .63X.50, .64X.51. May and June are the nesting mouths. 



468. HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHEB. Empidonaao hammondi (Xantus.) Geog. 

 Diet.— Western North America, south in winter to Southern Mexico, north to the 

 Lesser Slave Lake. 



