BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



wasps, bugs, and flies. Beetles are the only other item 

 of importance. The bugs eaten by the kinglet are mostly 

 small, but, happily, they are the most harmful kinds. 

 Treehoppers, leafhoppers, and jumping plant-lice are 

 pests and often do great harm to trees and smaller plants, 

 while plant-lice and scale insects are the worst scourges 

 of the fruit-grower — in fact, the prevalence of the latter 

 has almost risen to the magnitude of a national peril. 

 It is these small and seemingly insignificant birds that 

 most successfully attack and hold in check these insidious 

 foes of horticulture. The vegetable food consists of seeds 

 of poison ivy, or poison oak, a few weed seeds, and a few 

 small fruits, mostly elderberries." 



THE BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 



Old World Warbler Family — Sylviidce 



Length: About 4I/2 inches. 



Male: Bluish-gray above; grayish white below; forehead black, 

 black line over the eye; slender, curving bill; wings 

 dark gray, edged with grayish-white; tail long, outer 

 tail-feathers nearly all white; middle tail-feathers 

 black; tail elevated and lowered frequently. 



Female: Similar to male, but without the black forehead; line 

 over eye indistinct. 



Call-note: A nasal tang. 



Song: A delightful song, — sweet, but not strong. 



Habitat: Woodlands, where it usually frequents treetops. 



Itange: Southeastern United States. Breeds from eastern Ne- 

 braska, southern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario, 

 southwestern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and southern 

 New Jersey to southern Texas and central Florida; 

 [246] 



