THE NIDIOLOGIST 



165 



NEST OF THE BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. 



above. Knots are suspicious things to Oulogists, 

 and this one was seen to be the nest of the lit- 

 tle creatures who had attracted my attention by 

 their cries. As it was late in the day I decided 

 to go on home and return later. 



Monday, the 6th, came, and I with a friend re- 

 turned to the tree, but the residence of the Blue- 

 grays was not to be seen. The buds had broken 

 and the tree was now in full leaf. After some 

 search, which plainly showed the excellent mim- 

 icry of surroundings, the nest was again found, 

 the birds having lined it. 



On May 11 Mr. Joseph Warden and myself 

 again returned to the nest. But we had our 

 fears that we might again fail to secure a set of 

 eggs, for during the preceding week the ther- 

 mometer had fallen twenty degrees. 



After reaching the tree we divided our'' traps " 

 between us and ascended. Soon, we stood on the 

 limb just under that supporting the little mansion 

 of the Gnatcatcher, and gazed with increasing 

 admiration upon the object of our trip. Now, 

 it was easy to see that to secure it would require 

 great care and would try our patience. Even 

 then the chances were greatly against us. 



In selecting a nesting site this little bird cer- 

 tainly exhibited great forethought as to security 

 against the denizens of the woods. It was built 

 ten or twelve feet out from the trunk, saddling 

 the smooth, slippery limb. So greatly did it re- 

 semble a knot, that it would never have been 

 discovered had the gossiping parents remained 

 silent. The mimicry of the surroundings was 

 so perfect that detection would have been im- 

 possible after the tree had broken into leaf. 



But let us observe the other advantages of 

 this situation. The tree leaned slightly down- 

 hill — ccerulea accordingly constructed its dom- 

 icile on the lower side. The limb forked near 

 the nest. This fact was also observed with the 

 same display of ready wit, and the little home 

 was built on the lower fork, so that the upper 

 limb served for a roof, which would not only 

 shelter the eggs from rain, but also the faithful 

 little creature who occupied it. 



The nest next came under our observation, 

 its structure and the manner in which it was 

 secured to the limb showing rare workman- 

 ship. Even without noticing the reasoning that 

 prompted it to place its nest in this situation,, 

 this beautifu llittle lichen-covered home called 

 attention to the wonderful skill of the tiny ar- 

 chitect. 



After looking at it for a while we began to 

 discuss our probability of securing it, with the 

 limb on which it was placed, three inches in 

 diameter where it joined the tree. This was 

 too heavy for one to hold while the other sawed 

 it off; besides, all the limbs below it were too 

 far down to stand upon while holding it, and 

 also if they had been higher they slanted down- 

 ward at such an angle that we could not have 

 stood on them. Our plans seemed "knocked 

 into a cocked hat." But after a few minutes' con- 

 templation a new scheme was brought to light. 



First, a short rope was tied securely around 

 the limb at its larger end where it joined the 

 trunk, and then fastened to a limb directly 

 above. This was to hold the butt of the limb 

 in place after it had been severed from the tree, 



