THE BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. 



LMOST everywhere in the 

 United States this active 

 little bird may be found, 

 inhabiting chiefly open, 

 high woods. Often he 

 may be seen along streams, skipping 

 and darting about among the topmost 

 branches of the trees, his long tail 

 elevated and jerking in wren-like 

 fashion, always moving about and 

 ever uttering his wheezy, squeaky 

 notes. Ridgway says that during the 

 breeding season the male has a varied 

 song of considerable power, but lack- 

 ing in sweetness, and uttered in an 

 erratic manner, portions of it suggesting 

 a weak imitation of the Catbird's 

 medley. 



It is as a nest builder that the 

 Gnatcatcher is best known. Davie, 

 whose life study has been nests and 

 eggs, says that as a work of beauty 

 and ingenious architectural design the 

 nest of this bird has few equals in this 

 country. On the whole, it is a rather 

 frail structure, usually built in the 

 small upright twigs or saddled on the 

 horizontal limbs of trees at heights 

 ranging from ten to fifty feet, but 

 generally at an elevation of about 

 fifteen or twenty feet. The typical 

 nest has high, compact walls, con- 

 tracted at the brim, and gracefully 

 turned ; the interior is deeply cupped, 

 and the exterior is beautifully orna- 

 mented with lichens. The opening 

 is always at the top. Often the nest 



is attached to a limb of the si-aic: 

 diameter as itself, thus appearing as a 

 knot or other excrescence. If, as 

 Baskett says, " there can be no doubt 

 that a bird may take delight in the 

 skill of its work and the beauty of its 

 home, as well as in its plumage," the 

 dainty residence of the Blue-gray 

 Gnatcatcher would indicate that the 

 pretty little bird experiences a great 

 amount of pleasure indeed. She lines 

 her nest with soft, downy materials — 

 cotton-like substances of withered 

 blossoms and the silky down of the 

 milkweed — fine, wiry grasses, horse- 

 hair, and an occasional feather from 

 her own breast. In this she lays four 

 or five eggs of greenish or bluish 

 white, speckled with chestnut. 



Col. Goss describes this bird as as 

 much at home in the shrubby bushes 

 on the hillsides or mesquite growths 

 on the plains, as within the tree-tops 

 of the heavily timbered bottom lands ; 

 a nervous, restless species that, in their 

 quest of insect life, nimbly skip from 

 branch to branch, with partially 

 spread wings and flirting tails, held 

 more or less erect, now and then 

 darting like a flash into the air to 

 catch the passing flies; a tireless 

 picture of bustling energy, that only 

 ceases with the day. The soft, 

 warbling love song is varied, tender, 

 and full of melody, but so low, the 

 hearer must stop to listen in order to 

 fully catch its silvery tones. 



95 



