FAMILY Sylviide. 
both wonderfully limpid and smooth-flowing though inter: 
rupted by the wrenlike grating notes which really deserve 
no place on the musical scale. The trills or reiterations 
upon the triad show the unique character of the song. 
Paula ane eB er | 
AY Gr [Se IURS AE BA = « CS 
ee eg 
Pa 
(There was merely the impression of the G minor key) 
As arule the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is so absorbingly inter- 
ested in the business he has on hand, that he sometimes 
allows one to approach—if one is quiet and cautious— 
within ten feet of him, and thus observe his sprightly and 
restless movements. The bird is far from uncommon 
among the spruces which clothe the slopes of the White 
Mountains. 
Blue-gray A southern species but a somewhat common 
Gnatcatcher <ummer resident of Washington, D.C. It 
Polioptila 5 £ ee 
Bieher” is an irregular visitant of New York, and 
L. 4.70 inches_ records have been taken of it on Long Island 
April 5th at Canarsie, Far Rockaway, Fort Hamilton, 
Montauk Point, Bridgehampton, Shelter Island, and Bell- 
port; it has also been observed in other parts of the State, 
Rochester being the most northerly point. The range of 
this Gnatcatcher extends from the Gulf States northward 
to Eastern Nebraska, southern Wisconsin, Michigan, On- 
tario, southwestern Pennsylvania, and southern New 
Jersey. Like some of the Warblers its colors form a 
charming symphony in gray; upper parts blue-gray, under 
parts gray-white, forehead and a line over the eye black, 
tail black with the feathers mostly white, the inner third 
feather only tipped with white, wings edged dark gray 
and white-gray. Nest cup-shaped (similar to that of the 
Hummingbird) on a horizontal bough or in a crotch, built 
of tendrils, bark, lichens, and grasses, lodged usually high 
up in the tree. Egg, bluish white thickly speckled with 
cinnamon brown, burnt sienna, or umber. 
238 
