THE OOLOGIST 



67 



in May light on the dead limbs or at 

 the top of a hollow tree which they 

 never do at any other season of the 

 year. The male is a beautiful fellow 

 with a metallic greenish black head 

 and pale salmon neck merging to 

 white on the breast. He is easily dis- 

 tinguished from his mate, even at a 

 distance by her colors of sombre 

 brown and grey. 



In June and July small flocks num- 

 bering from six to nine can be seen 

 on Lake Muskoka where they are very 

 plentiful. They are expert swimmers 

 and can swim quite a distance under 

 water catching small fish with their 

 serrated bill, using their wings as well 

 as their feet to propel them along. 

 They often swim up rivers and I have 

 been rowing up when suddenly I 

 chanced on a flock of them, moving 

 my boat to one side of the river and 

 keeping very still, they quickly swam 

 past me down the river, they being not 

 much more than an oar's length from 

 me; how I wished I had a camera at 

 the time. They would have made a 

 good subject. 



Late in September one day I had 

 been out rowing and as it was getting 

 dusk that evening I sighted what look- 

 ed to me like an old stump root float- 

 ing on the surface of the water. As I 

 rowed nearer I discovered that they 

 were ducks, five of them standing on 

 a flat rock about a quarter of a mile off 

 shore. A few minutes later four of 

 them had each tucked away their 

 heads under their feathers, while one 

 stood on guard. Rowing closer he 

 gave the alarm by a quak and they 

 flew away in the darkness. So I per- 

 ceived they must have a sentinel to 

 watch over them. 



In the fall when wounded and pur- 

 sued they will suddenly submerge 

 themselves leaving only their bills ex- 

 posed in order to breathe, looking like 

 sticks floating on the water. I have 



never noticed any males in the fall, 

 they may be entirely migratory while 

 the females are not. 



George E. Gerald. 

 Rosedale, Toronto, Canada. 



The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. 



FAMILY: Clyviidae. 



SPECIES: Polioptila caerulea caer- 

 ulea. 



DISTRIBUTION: The middle and 

 southern portions of eastern United 

 States south in winter to Cuba, Ba- 

 hama Islands, and Guatemala; rarely 

 north to the Great Lakes, southern 

 New York, and southern New England. 

 Breeds throughout its United States 

 range, and winters from South Atlan- 

 tic and Gulf States southward. Breeds 

 principally in the Carolinian zone. 



THE BIRD: The blue-gray gnat- 

 catcher is a tiny bluish-gray bird, hav- 

 ing a long tail and a rather slim body. 

 In general habits it is said to resem- 

 ble the kinglets. During the past 

 twelve years it has been my pleasure 

 to study a number of these little birds, 

 and in this time many — upwards of 80 

 — nests have come under my observa- 

 tion. 



The gnatcatcher arrives in southern 

 Pennsylvania usually by April 15, 

 varying, of course, according to the 

 weather conditions of the season.. In 

 warm springs I have generally seen 

 the birds by April 12, while in the cool- 

 er seasons they arrived considerably 

 later. The birds remain with us until 

 September when they depart for the 

 South. 



Upon their arrival here these bits of 

 bird life repair to a chasm section of 

 some woods, and a place once selected 

 is resorted to year after year. I noted 

 one pair of gnatcatchers which nested 

 in the very same crotch for several 

 consecutive seasons. The larger 

 woods, — several acres in extent, — may 

 contain as many as five or six pairs 



