THE OOLOmiST. 



SI 



The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. 



(^Polioptila ccerulea.) 



CHAS. E. COLES. 



T 



HIS is one of our rare and beautiful 

 species. It appears in lower Michi- 

 gan from the south early in May and pairs 

 shortly afterward. They commence to 

 build from the latter part of May to the 

 first of June. The female sits fourteen 

 days and produces one brood in a season ; 

 •though they often lay a second set of eggs 

 if disturbed. It is shy and difficult of ap- 

 proach and seems ever on the alert for dan- 

 ger. During its residence here it may be 

 seen in the tops of tall oak trees actively 

 darting from bough to bough through the 

 foliage, snapping at flies and other insects, 

 in the wildest and most thickly wooded lo- 

 calities, uttering its short and feeble song, 

 a repetition of the syllables te, te., tee^ tee. 

 This species has all the agility and many 

 of the habits of the Flycatcher. 



My discovery of the nest of this species 

 was on the afternoon of June 7th 1873. 

 While out collecting, my attention was call- 

 ed to the sudden notes of this bird from a 

 large oak tree above me. Thinking that 

 she had a nest in the vicinity I retired to 

 a short distance, in order to allow her time 

 to get settled, then silently approaching I 

 flushed her from the nest, she meanwhile 

 pouring forth her alarming notes. The 

 nest contained four fresh eggs and one of 

 the Cow Bird (Moluthnts pecoris) slightly 

 incubated. It was situated in a large oak, 

 on a small limb and all of fifty feet from 

 the ground as near as I can judge. This 

 nest was composed of stems of old leaves, 

 blossoms of old weeds, and covered on the 

 outside with bluish lichens, which gave it 

 the appearance of a bunch of moss or small 

 knot. It was deeply hollowed and lined 

 with horse-hail's. 



I have since had no difficulty in finding 

 these nests, and have taken no less than 

 twenty-five this year, and from the tAventy- 

 five succeeded in getting twenty-one safely 

 home. With the exception of the nest of 



the Humming Bird, the nest of this species 

 is the most beautiful specimeii of bird ar- 

 chitecture that I have ever met. 



Parties spending their summer vaca- 

 tions in the North Woods and Adirondacks, 

 in the northern part of New York, say tl\jit 

 the Corvus carnivorus (Raven) is very 

 plentiful in those districts. 



Ruffed Grouse cannot be shot in this 

 State until the first of September. See that 

 the law is enforced in your district and 

 there will be no scarcity of birds dvu'ing the 

 shootinsr season. 



Woodcock are very plentiful this year 

 throughout the Middle States. We hear 

 of 'some very good bags made in this vicin- 

 ity since the fourth of July that confirm 

 the fai;t. 



Wk have a large stock of new and de- 

 sirable eggs and skins, among which are 

 many rare specimens. A new catalogue 

 has been issued which collectors will find 

 convenient for reference. 



Jim. Oological Society. 



Treasurer Jones reports a delinquency 

 on the'part of the members of the Society 

 to remit the amount of President Howland's 

 call (40 cents) . Thus far his receipts are 

 not at all as large as they should be. 



Please remit. 



As soon as possible a report will be made 



showing whether or not the estimate for 



printing the constitution has been accepted. 



S. L. Willard, Secy. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



J. MacMoran. — For the benefit of those 

 of our subscribers who wish to make additions 

 to their collections, we will issue a price list 

 on the tenth of August, when one will be 

 sent you. 



