S YL VIIDJ^ — POLIOP TILING : GNA T-CA TCHERS. 



265 



black and white. Delicate little woodland birds, peculiar to America, not over 5.00 long ; mi- 

 gratory, insectivorous, very active and sprightly, with sharp squeaking notes. 



Analysis of Species (adult males). 



Forehead and line over eye black ; outer tail-feather white ccerulea 



Whole crown black ; outer web of outer tail-feather white plumbea 



with white californica 



Whole crown black ; outer web of outer tail-feather only < 



Blue-gray Gnat- 

 forehead black, con- 



of /'. pluinlteii , 



P. coeru'lea. (Lat. coerulea, cerulean, blue. Figs. 126, 127, b.) 

 CATCHER. (J, adult: Grayish-blue, bluer on crown, hoary on rump: 

 tinuous with a black superciliary line. Edges 

 of eyelids white, and above these a slight 

 whitish stripe bordering the black exteriorly. 

 Below white, with a faint plumbeous shade 

 on breast. Wings dark brown ; outer webs, 

 especially of inner quills, edged with hoary, 

 and inner webs of most bordered with white. 

 Tail jet-black ; outer feather entirely or 

 mostly white, next one about half white, 3d 

 one tipped with white. Bill and feet black. 

 Length 4.50-5.00; extent 6.25-7.00; wdng 

 2.00-2.20 ; tail about the same. 9 : Like ^, 

 but duller and more grayish above ; head like 

 back, without any black. Bill usually in 

 part light-colored. Eastern U. S., N. to 

 New York, Great Lakes, and S. New England, casual to Minn, and Me., W. to Col. ; breeds in 

 most of range, and winters on the S. border and southward to the Bahamas, Cuba, and Guate- 

 mala ; abundant in woodland. Nest a model of bird-architecture, compact-walled and contracted 

 at the brim, elegantly stuccoed with lichens, fixed to slender twigs at a varying height from 10 

 to 50 or 60 feet ; eggs 4-5, about 0.60 X 0.45, whitish, fully speckled with reddish and umber- 

 brown and lilac. 



P. c. obscu'ra. (Lat. obscurus, obscure, dark.) Obscure Gnat-catcher. Western 

 Blue-gray Gnat-catcher. Resembling the last: coloration less clear. S. W. U. S., iu 

 Arizona, Southern and Lower California, and Western Mexico. Ridgw., Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 v. Mar. 1883, p. 535; CouES, Key, 4th ed., 1890, p. 897; A. 0. U. List, 2d ed., 1895, p. 315, 

 No. 751 a. The distinction of this form is so .slight that it was ignored in the first three eds. 

 of the Key, 1872-87, and in the A. 0. U. List, 1st ed., 1886. 



P. plum'bea. (Lat. pluvibeus, plumbeous, lead-colored. Fig. 127, d.) Black-capped 

 Gnat-catcher (adult). Plumbeous Gnat-catcher {young). ^, adult: Upper parts 

 like those of P. coerulea, but duller and more grayish ; whole top of head black, involving 

 lores and auriculars ; under parts white, with an ashy shade on the sides. Outer tail-feather 

 with whole outer web and tip white (like the second feather of P. coerulea) ; next two feathers 

 tipped with white. Size of P. coerulea; tarsi rather longer — about 0.70. Immature <J : 

 acquiring the black cap by degrees, beginning with a small black stripe on each side, over a 

 white superciliary line, and gradually spreading. 9- Like $ ; upper parts still duller, fre- 

 quently with a decided brownish shade ; no black on head ; distinguislied from 9 coerulea by 

 less white on tail. Nest high in a tree, saddled on a limb, small, neat, compact, with con- 

 tracted brim, composed of various downy substances and cobwebs ; size outside about 2.50 in 

 diam. X 1.75 deep, with a cavity of 1.75 X 1.25; eggs about 4, 0.58 X (K45, bluish-white, 

 speckled with reddisli brown, umber, and lilac; laid in March and April. Valley of the Gila 

 and Colorado, iu Arizona and Southern and Lower California ; also, valley of the Upper Rio 



