54 
Nest and Eggs of the Plumbeous 
Gnatcatcher. 
BY HARRY G. PARKER, CHESTER, PA. 
There are two conspicuous reasons why the 
egos of the Arizona birds are sparingly found in 
collectors’ cabinets, first, the scarcity of naturalists 
in that territory, and second, the terrible heat of 
the spring and summer months, which renders 
field work an arduous, if not a dangerous under- 
taking. 
On March 26, 1885, my friend Dr. Chas. Carter, 
stationed in Pinal Co., Arizona, discovered a nest 
of the Plumbeous Gnateatcher, (Polioptilo plum- 
bea). This nest is in my collection, (he having 
kindly presented it to me) and I am thus enabled 
to describe it, as it now appears before me. Not 
being well versed in the plant life of Arizona, it 
will be impossible for me to describe by their 
proper names the materials of which it is made; 
suffice it to say that outwardly it is composed of 
very fine stalks of some delicate plant worked 
circularly, with these stalks is woven a soft downy 
substance, and here and there particles of dead 
wood are apparent, if examined through a glass. 
All this is kept in place with the silken thread of 
a spider’s web, and the inside is warmly lined 
with raw cotton, in which are seen a few of the 
seeds. Altogether it is a neat and substantial 
little structure, though lacking the beauty of the 
lichen-stuccoed nests so characteristic of the Blue- 
gray Gnatcatcher, (Polioptila cerula,) and the 
Hummingbirds. The depth of the nest outside is 
1% inches; the depth inside 114 inches. The 
diameter of top outside is 24g inches; the diame- 
ter inside 134 inches; and the diameter of the 
the bottom, outside, is 27, inches. The circum- 
ference of nest outside is 714 inches. It is com- 
pactly walled, and much contracted at the brim. 
The nest was placed in the small limbs of a 
tree, forty feet from the ground, and when found 
contained four eggs, in which incubation was well 
advanced even at that early date (March 26th). 
The female refused to leave, and suffered herself 
to be taken by the hand, so the identification was 
perfect. 
The eggs of this set average .58x.48, and are of 
a Whitish ground color, with a bluish tinge, on 
Which is a fine speckling of reddish, umber brown 
and lilac; this last color being indistinctly seen on 
three specimens, and entirely lacking on the 
fourth. In one egg only does this minute spot- 
ting form a blotch, and that appears on the largest 
end of the egg. In all the eggs the spotting tends 
towards the greater end, in the shape of a poorly 
defined wreath; though the entire surface of all 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 4 
the eggs is covered with the little specks in more 
or less profusion. This bird is the rarest of North 
American Polioptila, and is not abundant even in 
its assigned habitat—the valleys of the Gila and 
Colorado rivers. 
Capt. Chas. E. Bendire, to whom I have shown 
this nest and eggs, told me that he only found 
three nests during his residence in Arizona; and 
the same gentleman in speaking of the compara- 
tive scarcity of this bird, said that the collector 
would find a dozen nests of the Yellow-headed 
Tit, (Auriparus flaviceps,) to one of the Plumbeous 
Gnatcatcher. 

Breeding of Franklin’s Gull in Min- 
nesota. 
BY J. W. PRESTON, BAXTER, IOWA. 
In western Minnesota there are many flat 
prairies, diversified by lakes, ponds and vast 
marshes, with only a fringe of stunted trees and 
bushes, or destitute of stick or shrub; a battle 
ground for wind and weather. Hither myriads 
of water fowl] flock each spring to give animation 
and life to an otherwise dreary region. From 
early April until November’s frosts, there is not a 
pond or creek or marsh on which the flapping of 
wings or cry of bird may not be heard day and 
night. 
Geese, cranes and pelicans; cormorants and 
herons; rails, coots and grebes, with many species 
of ducks, make this their chosen summer home. 
On one of these flats I spent a few weeks dur- 
ing the collecting season of 1885. Here I discoy- 
ered a nesting place of Franklin’s Gull, (Larus 
Sranklint) and became interested in its noisy, rest- 
less habits. The first that I saw were flying 
about over a piece of lowland in search of food. 
Several were taken, being males in the breeding 
plumage, the under parts beautifully rose-tinted. 
Later they were seen following teams, eagerly 
darting down for earth worms upturned by the 
plows. No sooner did a fortunate bird secure its 
prize than a number of others began fighting for 
it. While thus intent upon their meal they would 
fly within a few feet of a man, regardless of his 
presence. At the report of a gun they moved off 
a distance, screaming loudly, when from all di- 
rections others came hurrying to find the cause of 
alarm. 
After a number had been shot they became 
wary and difficult to approach. On warm sunny 
days small companies rose with scarcely a flap of 
wings, in easy spiral curves to a great height, and 
remained for hours soaring about on widespread, 
motionless wings, often so high as to appear no 
larger than robins. 
