Dusky. Gray, and Slate-colored 
from the orchard between his aerial sallies after the passing insects 
that have been attracted by the decaying fruit, and chebec is the 
name by which many New Englanders know him. 
While giving this characteristic call-note, with drooping, 
jerking tail, trembling wings, and uplifted parti-colored bill, he 
looks unnerved and limp by the effort it has cost him. But in 
the next instant a gnat flies past. How quickly the bird recovers 
itself, and charges full-tilt at his passing dinner! The sharp click 
of his little bill proves that he has not missed his aim ; and after 
careering about in the air another minute or two, looking for 
more game to snap up on the wing, he will return to the same 
perch and take up his familiar refrain. Without hearing this call- 
note one might often mistake the bird for either the wood pewee 
or the phoebe, for all the three are similarly clothed and have 
many traits in common. The slightly larger size of the phoebe 
and pewee is not always apparent when they are seen perching 
on the trees. Unlike the “tuft of hay” to which the Acadian 
flycatcher’s nest has been likened, the least flycatcher’s home is 
a neat, substantial cup-shaped cradle softly lined with down or 
horsehair, and placed generally in an upright crotch of a tree, well 
above the ground. 
The Chickadee 
(Parus atricapillus) Titmouse family 
Called also: BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE; BLACK-CAP TIT 
Length — 5 to 5.5 inches. About an inch smaller than the English 
sparrow. 
Male and Female — Not crested. Crown and nape and throat 
black. Above gray, slightly tinged with brown. A white 
space, beginning at base of bill, extends backwards, widen- 
ing over cheeks and upper part of breast, forming a sort of 
collar that almost surrounds neck. Underneath dirty white, 
with pale rusty-brown wash on sides. Wings and tail gray, 
with white edgings. Plumage downy. 
Range — Eastern North America. North of the Carolinas to Lab- 
rador. Does not migrate in the North. 
Migrations — Late September. May. Winter resident ; perma- 
nent resident in northern parts of the United States. 
No “fair weather friend ” is the jolly little chickadee. In the 
depth of the autumn equinoctial storm it returns to the tops of 
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