Ihe Birds' Oikndar 



year as the ruby-crowned, or else it is far less 

 gifted. 



Related to the kinglets, but a much rarer 

 species, is the beautiful and irrepressible little 

 blue-gray gnat-catcher (found on one occasion 

 in the Ramble), only four and a half inches 

 long, in quiet tones of grayish-blue above, and 

 white beneath, of delicate mould, and in many 

 ways suggestive of a tiny mocking-bird. Any 

 one can imagine the turbulence, not to say 

 agony, of a bird which, like this gnat-catcher, 

 has a body that is evidently several sizes too 

 small for its soul, necessitating a constant escape 

 of delirious song and motion. The discov- 

 ery threw me into quite a flutter, as it was my 

 first and long-anticipated view of the elegant 

 creature. He entertained me for nearly half an 

 hour in a most confidential manner with his con- 

 tinuous warble, graceful posturings, and airy 

 flights, diving hither and thither for insects on 

 the wing in the manner of a true flycatcher. 

 The song is characterized by impetuosity rath- 

 er than sweetness, as it is mostly a subdued 

 reminiscence of the catbird's heterogeneous 

 vagaries. 



About this time I found a mysterious stranger 

 on three difi"erent occasions, always by itself; 



104 



