BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. 
751. Polioptita cerulea. 41% inches. 
Forehead black; tail plack with white edges and tips 
to the outer ones. 
Their food is chiefly insects, which they are very ex- 
pert in catching, taking them on the wing with great 
celerity. Their movements are all very rapid, flitting 
from one part of a tree to another, but usually among 
the upper branches, Their nests are among the most 
beautiful of bird architecture, even Surpassing that of 
the Hummingbird. 
Song.—Sweet, but very faint. 
Nest.—Situated on horizontal limbs of trees at me- 
dium heights; made of plant fibres, woolly substances 
and cobwebs, adorned with handsome lichens; the walls 
are very high and thick, the bird sitting so low inside 
that only her tail is visible; the four or five eges are 
bluish white specked with reddish brown ((06) x 144). 
Range.—Eastern U, S., breeding north to New Jersey 
and Illinois, 
