32 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



well, and it soon returned. Not once did it fly 

 downward to catch an insect. Is it because it can 

 only see a fly when the sky is beyond, and insects 

 are not discernible against the dull background 

 of dead grass ? This bluebird, while I watched it, 

 seemed generally to have its attention drawn upward, 

 and only flew out in that direction. 



It would seem to be a law of bird-life that the 

 smaller the body the greater the activity. Of course 

 our very largest birds are active enough in one sense, 

 but it is deliberate action. I have watched vultures 

 soar by the hour in the sky, so high above the 

 earth that they seemed no larger than swallows, and 

 the same is true of eagles. But this soaring proba- 

 bly calls for little exertion. On the other hand, 

 there comes from the south to the Middle States, 

 and sparingly to the north, a little blue-gray gnat- 

 catcher that is just as active, erratic, and impetu- 

 ous as any humming-bird, and is something smaller, 

 too, than the largest of the hummers. This little 

 bird is not generally known. It does not come to 

 town, or, if it does, pays only a flying visit to the 

 tallest tree-tops. It stays all summer, and builds a 

 dainty nest of unsubstantial bits, always in a tree, 

 and sometimes very near the top of it, and lays a 

 few beautiful yellow-brown and white eggs. 



Anent the matter of classification, this little bird 

 used to be looked upon as a "flycatcher." It is 

 still a catcher of flies, but, because of its bones and 

 feathers having certain twists, " is now ranked as one 

 of the highest types of the Oscines, or Singing-birds," 

 and the song is usually likened to the squeak of a 



