Lancaster, Mass.
1901
July
  Empidonax minimus - At eight o'clock on the morning of July 2 Miss
Forster showed me a Least Flycatcher's nest in the orchard
behind Miss Holman's. It was in the fork of a young apple tree about 8 ft. above
the ground. The foliage of the tree was unusually scanty and the sun
was pouring down its fierce rays directly on the nest but the three young
which it contained and which were nearly two-thirds grown and covered with
fine feathers were shielded by one of their parents who, perched erect, with half-
opened wings, on the rim of the nest, remained as motionless as a stuffed
bird during the ten or twelve minutes that we spent watching her.
During the remainder of the day she remained steadily at her post merely
shifting her position from time to time, as the sun swept onward through
the leaves, ever keeping herself between it and the panting young. Miss Forster
tells me that she has done the same thing during the whole of the two
preceding days. The weather during this period has been intensely hot the thermometer
rising each day to 90 degrees.
  At 8 A.M. on the morning of July 3rd the Flycatcher was again performing
the touching duty of shielding her young but she was absent from the
nest after 12 M. the afternoon being comparatively cool. The 4th 5th 6th
and 7th were still cooler with cloudy weather most of the time.
During this period we visited the nest at frequent intervals but not
once did we find the present bird sitting on its rim. The young
grew rapidly. They were fully feathered on the morning of the 7th
and left the nest about noon on the 8th. At the time of writing
this (July 16th) they are still, with their parents, frequenting the
trees about the house and the father of the brood still utters
his chebec note occasionally.