354 BULLETIN 19 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



writer (1932) described an attack made upon him while he was 

 photographing a nest, when the male gnatcatcher actually "struck 

 the writer several times on the head and once in the eye," this last 

 blow incapacitating him completely for a time. Maurice Brooks 

 (1933) tamed a pair of gnatcatchers by making gradual advances 

 toward the nest during the period of incubation until, after the young 

 had hatched, he and his family could come within 2 or 3 feet of the 

 nest without interrupting the feeding schedule. Finally he cut off the 

 nest branch and lowered it for easier observation, still without appar- 

 ently disturbing the parent birds. His next move was to cup his 

 hands loosely about the nest in an attempt to compel the parent birds 

 to alight on the hands. This intimacy was more than the birds 

 would stand and the result was surprising as the female immediately 

 attacked viciously and repeatedly. Amicable relations were later 

 reestablished, and the female did occasionally actually alight upon 

 the experimenter's hands, but even then she would without warning 

 "sometimes take time out to attack." All attacks were made by the 

 female. 



Except during courtship and in defense of its nest, the gnatcatcher 

 has never seemed to me to be pugnacious. Certainly, in its winter 

 association with chickadees, titmice, and kinglets, it shows no tend- 

 ency to harass or tease; so Alexander F. Skutch's note (MS.) on the 

 wintering birds in Guatemala comes as a surprise when he writes that 

 "the adult males do not seem to get along together." He cites as an 

 instance: "On November 12, 1934, while following a large flock of 

 small birds through open woods near Huehuetenango, I noticed of a 

 sudden two blue-gray gnatcatchers in the oak tree in front of me. 

 Upon finding themselves face to face, they became excited and 

 attempted to sing; but at this season their voices were rusty from 

 disuse, and their notes came thin and wheezy. Flying at each other, 

 they clashed in midair; but the momentary affray was without 

 consequence. After the first onset, they separated. From their 

 attempts to sing, I feel sure that these birds were males. I have 

 witnessed similar behavior — often with singing — on the part of other 

 small birds which are solitary during the winter, when two of the 

 kind come together." 



The flight of the gnatcatcher, as described by Dr. H. C. Oberholser 

 (1938), is "usually quick, but the bird does not ordinarily travel far 

 without stopping. Sometimes it flies rather high, particularly when 

 passing from one high tree to another, but it is usually seen flitting 

 about the underbrush." The character of the flight is somewhat 

 undulating or wavering rather than direct, with rapid wing beats, and 

 is similar to that of many other very small birds; but the gnatcatcher 

 can readily be distinguished in flight by the length of its tail. Even 



