A BIRDS' GALA-DAY. 145 



fay-like bird visits my woodland than the blue-gray 

 gnat-catcher. Even the ruby-throated humming- 

 bird, though still smaller, seems rather roly-poly 

 in comparison ; and no warbler, not even the grace- 

 ful redstart, can flit about so airily. One of the 

 gnat-catchers in the tree-top presently darted out 

 after a miller, which tried to escape by letting itself 

 fall toward the ground. A vigorous drama followed. 

 The bird plunged nimbly after, whirling round and 

 round in a spiral course until it had secured its 

 wriggling prize. 



The gnat-catcher lisps a little song, — a gossamer 

 melody, it might be called. His slender voice 

 has quite a " resonant tang." On that day I did 

 not take notes on his music, but the next day I 

 had a good opportunity to do so ; and I give the 

 result, especially as no minute description of this 

 bird's song has been recorded, so far as I know. 

 I had often heard it before, but had neglected to 

 listen to it intently enough to analyze its peculiar 

 quality. Bending my ear upon it, I distinctly 

 and unmistakably detected, besides the bird's own 

 notes, the notes of three other birds, — those of the 

 cat-bird's alarm-call, of the phoebe's song, and of the 

 goldfinch's song and call. The imitation in each 

 case was perfect, save that the gnat-catcher's tones 

 were slenderer than those of the birds whose music 

 he had (if I may so speak) plagiarized. Is this 

 tiny minstrel a mocker? Perhaps my description 

 may be a surprise to many students of bird min- 

 strelsy, but I can only say that, having listened to 



