DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB 25 



briar and grape vines along the edge of a stream which mean- 

 dered through the deep damp forest, almost tropical in its 

 appearance, the notes of many familiar friends greeted us ; 

 White-eyed Vireos, Carolina Wrens, Cardinals, Titmice and 

 Wood Thrushes, perhaps most prominent, in addition to the 

 general list of warblers in the vanguard of migration. Soon 

 there broke forth within a few feet of us the loud call which so 

 much resembles that of the Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers. 

 Thinking that it might be a Prothonotary, we crept carefully 

 around a large gum tree and there on one of the lower 

 branches, peering somewhat in the manner of a vireo, was our 

 bird, the most striking of all the warbler family and of whose 

 praises so much has been written. As the sunset glow through 

 the trees struck his gorgeous yellow plumage, we felt repaid for 

 any effort expended in the search. Mosquitoes soon reminded 

 us that further investigation should be postponed till morning, 

 so we contented ourselves with this glimpse, and dreamed of 

 Gnatcatchers on the morrow. 



No one should be indoors after four a. m. on a May morning, 

 and the mosquitoes, in alliance with a nearby Barred Owl, 

 proving effective prompters, all hands were up at the break of 

 day. A magnificent concert was in full career ; the cool air, 

 ruflQing the surface of a nearby pond, on the margin of which 

 budding willows and willow-oaks gave a charming Corot effect, 

 made one wonder why they should wait till sultry August for a 

 holiday. We were remarkably fortunate on this fine day ; for 

 no sooner had we reached the edge of the woods across the 

 stream, where grew tall ash, elm and gums fringing the meadow, 

 than, at the report of a shot, fired at a Redstart high among the 

 branches, we saw the unmistakable form of the little Blue-gray 

 Gnatcatcher flit across an opening in the trees. It was incess- 

 antly active for a moment and, following it with glasses, we 

 saw it alight on a small dead branch of an elm directly over- 

 head and settle on its nest, carefully placed near the base of the 

 branch protected from above by a main limb, some thirty-five 

 feet from the ground. Its momentary fright at the shot, so near, 

 had passed away and the bird sat close, showing only its long 

 tail projecting over the deep-rimmed cup covered with lichens. 



