PERCHING BIRDS 



749». Sitka Kinglet. Regulas calendula 

 grinnelli. 



Range. — Pacific coast, breeding in Alaska. 

 Said to be brighter than the preceding va 

 riety. 



749b. Dusky Kinglet. 

 obscurus. 



ReQitlus calendula 



Range. — Guadalupe Island, Lower California. 



This species nests during March in the large 

 cypress and pine groves at high elevation 

 above the ground. The nests are similar in 

 construction to those of the common Ruby- 

 crown, and the eggs are scarcely different from 

 some specimens of that species; white, dotted 

 and wreathed with reddish brown. Size .56 

 x .43. 



751. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. 

 Polioptila ccerulea ccerulea. 



Range. — United States, east of the Rockies, breeding from the Gulf to the 

 .Middle and Central States; < usually north to .Massachusetts and Minnesota. 



These graceful birds are bluish gray above with a black forehead and central 

 tail leathers, and white underparts. Tiny are common in wooded districts in 

 the south, where- they saddle their beautiful nests upon horizontal branches or 

 in crotches usually at quite an elevation from the ground; thej 

 resemble large Ruby-throated Hummers' nests bul the walls are * 



much higher and thicker; they are made of plant fibres and iflfe^"^^ 

 down, lined with cottony substances and hair, and covered on 

 the outside with lichens to match the limb upon which it i- 

 placed. Their eggs are bluish white, specked with reddish 1 

 nut. Size .58 x .45. Data— Chattanooga, Tenn., April 30, 1900. 

 Nest of moss, covered with lichens and lined with hair and feathers; 20 feet 

 from the ground in a small tree. 



Bluish \v 1 1 i 1 1 



751a. Western Gnat< v.t< her. Polioptila caerulea obscura. 



Range. — Western United States and Lower California. 



The habits and eggs of this sub-species are the same as those of the eastern 

 bird, and the nests do not differ except, perhaps, in less ornamentation of the 



exterior. 



IM.i mbeous Gnati \t< her. Polioptila plumbea. 



Kan 



ige. 



Their 



t hree 



Mexican boundary from western Texa to southern California. 



This species has a bright shining black crown and more black 

 nn the tail than the eastern Gnatcatcher. Thej 3addle then- 

 nests upon the branches ol trei or in upright fork-, usually at an 

 '..•/. elevation of ten feel or more from the ground; the nests are 

 made of 1 ) i: 1 nt fibres and line bark ompactlj felted to 



!„., Ml , gether, and with little, If any, ornamental lichens on the exterior. 

 eenish blue, potted with reddish brown, and vary from 

 to Ave in Dumber. Size .54 x ,44, 



in 



