KINGLETS AND GNATCATCHERS 



223 



BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 



Polioptila cserulea caerulea {Liiimciis) 



A I), r. Nuniliir r^i See Color Plate 104 



Other Names. — Common Gnatcatclier : Little BIii- 

 isli-srav Wren; Small Bhie-ijray Flycatcher: Sylvan 

 Flycatcher. 



General Description. — Length. 4 1 _; inches. L'pper 

 parts, bluish-gray; under parts, whitish. 



Color. — Adl'I-T M.\le; Crown and hindneck, idain 

 bluish-gray, the back, shoulders, rump, and lesser 

 wing-coverts slightly paler and less bluish ; froiil por- 

 tion of forehead and sides of foreliead and rroii';;, 

 black, fonnin;/ a coiisl'icuous U-sliaj^ed marl:: wings, 

 dull slate color with pale gray edgings, these much 

 broader and much paler gray (sometimes wdnitish) 

 on inner wing quills; upper tail-coverts and tail, black. 

 the outermost tail-featliers e.vteusi-i'eJy U'hite. with 

 blackish shafts, the white occupying the whole of the 

 exposed portion of both webs on the outermost feather, 

 extending more nearly to base on outer web than on 

 inner, the second feather with terminal half (approxi- 

 mately) white, the third broadly tipped with white; 

 sides of head, pale bluish-gray; a white eye-ring; 

 under parts, white, the throat, chest, and sides, 

 especially the chest, faintly shaded with pale bluish- 

 gray ; bill, black: iris, brown. Anui.T Fkmai.k: Similar 

 to the adult male, but gray of upper parts less lihiish. 



atid without tlie U-shaiied mark on forehead and sides 

 of crown. 



Nest and Eggs. Nkst : Interior aliout i ' .. inches 

 deep and about the same in diameter, perfectly cup- 

 shaped, gracefully contracted at brim; coinposed of 

 soft, silky milkweed or cat-tail down, withered blos- 

 soms, or other dainty material, pinned together with 

 fine grasses, old leaf stems, and horse-hair; exterior 

 decorated with lichens, held on by spider-webs ; usually 

 saddled on a horizontal limb, sometimes in a sapling 

 fork, about 15 feet from the ground; in the former 

 situation it resembles a knot on the limb. Egcs : 4 or 

 5, greenish or bluish-white speckled with chestnut, 

 umber-brown, or lilac. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States; north (breed- 

 ing) to New Jersey, southeastern and southwestern 

 Pennsylvania, southern Ontario, southern Michigan, 

 northern Illinois, southern Iowa, and eastern Nebraska, 

 occasionally or accidentally to Long Island, Connecti- 

 cut. Rhode Island, Afassachusetts, Maine, northern 

 Michi.gan. and Minnesota ; breeding southward to 

 Florida. Louisiana, and southern Texas; wintering in 

 Florida and other Gulf .States and southward to 

 Ilahamas, Cuba, and Mexico to Yucatan and Guatemala. 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER I ; nat. size) 

 A fussy and fearless little fellow who doesn't hesitate to attack a bird lire times his size 



