KINGLETS, GNATCATCHERS, ETC. 



465 



749a. R. C. grinnelli W. Palmer. SITKAN KINGLET. 



Adult male. Similar to calendula, but smaller and darker ; upper 

 parts sooty olive, darkening to blackish along sides of vermilion crown 

 patch ; wing with dark parts nearly black ; throat and breast dusky gray ; 

 belly whitish, tinged with yellowish. Young male : rich brownish olive, 

 much darker than corresponding calendula, and under parts brighter. 

 Wing: 2.17, tail 1.70, bill .16. 



Distribution. Sitka district, Alaska ; migrating south to California. 



GENUS POLIOPTILA. 



General Characters. Bill shorter than head, broad and flat- ^===j^. 

 tened at base, narrowing to slender notched and hooked tip ; 



nostrils exposed ; wings rounded ; tail graduated ; tarsus scaled ; "*^^^^^ 



toes short, side ones only about half as long as tarsus. Fig. 591. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Outer tail feather with exposed portion entirely white. 



2. Crown light bluish gray. From Colorado east. 



caerulea, p. 465. 



Fig. 592. 



2'. Crown dark bluish gray. Western Texas to California. 



obscura, p. 466. 

 1'. Outer tail feather with exposed portion partly black. 



2. Outer tail feather with outer web entirely white. 



plumbea, p. 466, 



Fig. 593. 



Fig. 504. 



2'. Outer tail feather with outer web black, edged with 

 white. Southern California . californica, p. 466. 



751. Polioptila cserulea (Linn.). BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. 



Adult male. Upper parts bluish gray, brightest on crown, fading to 

 lighter on rump ; forehead and 

 line over eye black ; tail black with 

 exposed part of outer feathers en- 

 tirely white ; under parts white 

 washed with bluish on sides. 

 Adult female and young : simi- 

 lar, but duller, and without black 

 on head ; young with iipper parts 

 washed with cinnamon. Length : 

 4.05-5.50, wing 2.00-2.20, tail 

 2.05-2.20. 



Distribution. Breeds in Up- 

 per Sonoran zone in the eastern 

 and central United States west 

 to Colorado and western Texas ; 

 winters from the southern Atlan- 

 tic and Gulf states to Guatemala, 

 Cuba, and the Bahamas. 



Nest. In trees, cup-shaped, Fi S- 595 - 



