430 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



egg of its owner and one of the Dwarf Cowbird. Mr. William Brews- 

 ter says that although a delicate structure the nest will not compare 

 with that of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, entirely lacking the exterior 

 coating of lichens, but in its general appearance closely resembles the 

 Redstart's, being felted with soft bark-strips and hemp-like vegetable 

 fibres. It was lined with plant down, a few feathers and the hair of 

 some small quadruped. Mr. Brewster describes the eggs as pale green- 

 ish-blue, coarsely and very evenly spotted with reddish-brown ; size 

 .53 x .42. * Mr. Stephens found two nests of the Black-capped Gnat- 

 catcher at Yuma, Arizona, in May, 1886, containing four eggs each ; 

 one of these contained an egg of Molothnis ater obscurus. f A set 

 of four eggs in Mr. Norris' collection was taken April 4, 1886, near 

 Pima, Arizona. They exactly resemble those of P. cezculea, and meas- 

 ure .55 x .42, .52 x .42, .53 x .43, .54 x .43. 



753. Polioptila californica BREWST. [29.] 



Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. 



Hab. Pacific coast of Southern California and northern portion of Lower California. 



" This gnat-catcher was first described by Mr. William Brewster, 

 from specimens collected by Mr. F. Stephens, near Riverside, San 

 Bernardino county, California, March 28, 1878. 



"A nest and four eggs of this species have recently been obtained 

 from Mr. Stephens, to whom the credit belongs for the discovery of 

 the first specimens. These were taken near the town of San Bernar- 

 dino, California, on May 2, 1887, and are now in the National Museum 

 collection (Catalogue No. 23294). 



" The nest of P. californica, like that of P. plumbea BAIRD, from 

 Arizona Territory, differs radically in its structure from that of its 

 Eastern relative, P. ccenilea (LINN.), which is too well known to orni- 

 thologists to require description. It lacks entirely the artistic finish of 

 the lichen-covered structure of the former, and resembles more in 

 shape certain forms of the nest of the Summer Yellow Warbler, Den- 

 droica cestiva (GML.), and the American Redstart, Sctophaga ruticilla 

 (LINN.). 



" The nest is cone-shaped, built in the forks of a small shrub, a 

 species of mahogany, Coleogyne ramosessima (ToRR.) I think, only 

 two feet from the ground, and it is securely fastened to several of the 

 twigs among which it is placed. Its walls are about half an inch in 

 thickness. The material of which the nest is composed, is well quilt- 

 ed together and makes a compact and solid structure. Externally the 



* Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, VII, p. 77. 



t Bull. No. 2, Ridgway Ornithological Club; April, 1887, pp. 5fr-57. 



