80 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



not less than five in a sini'le dav, and very i-arelv were any of them less 

 tlian sixty feet from the giound. Dr. (lerhardt, who was an accurate and 

 careful ohserver, speaks of these as the best built nests he had met with in 

 tliis country, both in re«^ard to strength and its ingeniously contrived aper- 

 ture, so narrowed at the top that it is impossiblr for tlie eggs to roll out even 

 in the sl 3rest wind. They have two broods in the season in the Southern 

 States, one in April and again in July. 



This Flycatcher lays usually five eggs. These are of a short oval form, 

 somewhat pointed at one end and rounded at the other, and measure .56 

 of an inch in length by .44 in breadth. Their ground-color is a greenish- 

 wliite, marked and dotted with small blotches and spots of varying and 

 blending shades of reddish-brown, lilac, and slate. 



Folioptila pliimbea, Baikd. 



£EAIMX>LOB£D GNATCATCHEB; ARIZONA GNATCATCREB. 



Polioptlla plumhca, Bairi>, Pr. A. N. So. VIT, June, 18."i4, 118. — Ib. Birds N. Am. 18r)8, 

 382, pi. xxxiii, tig. 1 ; Keview, 74. — Cooper, Birds Cal. I, 37. 



Sp. Char. Above Iduish-frray ; the fon'head uniform with the crown. Eyehds white. 

 A pale irrayish-white lino over the eye, above which is another of Idaek, nnieh concealed 

 by the feathers, and which does not reach to the bill. Lower parts dull white, tinjired with 

 bluish on the sides and with bn»wnish behind. Tail-feathers black ; the first and second 

 edged and ti{>ped with white, involving the entire outer web ot" the first, and most of 

 that of the second ; the third with only a very faint edging of the same. Female duller, 

 without the black supercihary line. Length, 4.40; wing, 1.80; tail, 2.oO (7,189). 



ILvB. Arizona. 



This species differs from P. ccrrnJca, in having the ash aliove less bluish, 

 especially on the forehead ; the black superciliary streak is only a horizontal 

 bar, not reaching the bill, whereas in carufea it not only reaches the bill, 

 but also extends across the forehead ; the light superciliary stri[)e is more 

 distinct. The tail is entirely ditl'erent, the lateral feathers Ixjing ahnost 

 entiMy black, instead of the reverse. 



From immature specimens of P. mclanura it may be distinguished by 

 larger size and purer white lower parts, and greater amount of white on 

 outer webs of lateral tail-feathei"S. 



Habits. But little is known in regard to the distribution or history of 

 this species. It appears to be peculiar to Arizona and Mexico. There is no 

 good reason to suppose that it differs materially in any of its habits from 

 the other species of this genus. Dr. Cooper, who observed this species at 

 Fort Mqjave, states that it is a winter resident of that region in small 

 numljers ; and, so far as he observed, is undistinguishable either in habit or 

 general appearance from either of the other s]>ecies which at that season 

 are also found there. Its cry of alarm resembles that of the common wren. 



