G70 P.LUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 



the rump, where the coucealeil portions oFthe feathers are silky white^ Wings above, brown ; with t!ie up- 

 per coverts and edges like the back. Tertiaries, margined with white. Tail, black, with three-fourths nf 

 the outer feathers, two thirds of the second, and the tips of the third and sometimes of the fourth, wdiite ; 

 with the veins black. Upper tail coverts, black but glossed with the same color as the back. There i? also 

 a narrow but distinct black line over the eye. Beneath, silvery white, with a bluish cist througliout, which 

 is brightest on the sides. Under portions of the wings, glaucous with the edges of the feathers and under 

 coverts, white. Under portions of the tail, similar to the back, but with the black more glaucous. Ring 

 around the eye, white. Adult female, similar to the male, but with the upper parts paler. The white of 

 the tail is not as much e.xtcnded. There is no black stripe over the eye. Young male, similar to the adult 

 female, but with the under parts paler. Young female, with a reddish wash over the upper surface, espec- 

 ially on the head. In all stages of plumage and in both sc.xes the iridcs are brown ; bill, black, with the 

 base of the lower mandible bluish ; the feet and tarsi, black. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Known at once by the silvery blue color and rounded, white marked tail. This species is distributed, 

 during the breeding season, throughout the United States, north to Southern New England, and occasion- 

 ally to Massachusetts, 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of forty-eight specimens from Florida. Length, 4.;")0 ; stretch, G.15 ; wing. 1.115 ; 

 tail, l.!i5 :bill, .47 : tarsus, .07. Longest specimen, ."i.OO ; greatest extent of wings, <>.7r): longest wing, 2A'J ; 

 tail, 2.22 ; bill, .5G ; tarsus, .77. Shortest speci:ne:i. 4-.( )5 ; shortest stretch of wing, TlSO ; shortest wing, LZy ; 

 tail, 1.75 ; bill, .33 ; tarsus, .5.j. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Nests, composed of the fine stalks of some delicate plants which are mi.Kod with thistle down and 

 woven together with cobwebs. The whole is firmed into a neat structure and smoothly covered with gray 

 lichens, which are also kept in place with the fine silk of the spider-webs, after the manner of the Wood 

 Pewee or the Humming Birds. They are lined with thistle down, lichens and feathers. The interior is 

 somewhat purse-shaped, for the mouth is contracted. The nest strikingly reminds one of that of the Hum- 

 ming Bird, only it is much larger, being, in fact, very large for the species to which it belongs, yet its beau- 

 tiful finish does credit to its delicate architect. Dimensions. External diameter, 2.00 inches ; internal, in 

 the middle, 2.00 inches; at the mouth, l.-OO inches; external depth, 2.75 inches; internal, 1.50 inches. 

 Eggs, from four to six in number, short oval in form, bluish white in color, spotted and blotched irregularly 

 with reddish brown, umber and lilac. Dimensions, from .43 by .50 to .40 by .00. 



HABITS. 



The little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is the per.^oniticatiou of graceful iictivit}'. We see 

 it skipping ahout among the underbrusli on the edges of a hannnock with half spread 

 wings and expanded tail. Then it disappears as if by magic, and we liear its lisping note 

 high over head, as it poises itself for an instant on the topmost bough of a tall live oak 

 before launching into air to snap up some passing fly, or hangs head downward that it 

 may peer into the crevices of the rough bark ; but in the next second will be hovering be- 

 fore the large white blossoms of the magnolia grandiliora, while it lightly removes a tiny 

 beetle from the creamy petals. Thus it tlits constantlv from place to place ever busied in 

 searching for insects and the most casual observer will joause to admire its rapid but ele- 

 gant movements. 



During winter they may be found in scattering flocks and I have seen hundreds of 

 them in a single day at Key West. But singularly nine-tenths of those which 1 took there 



