The Western Gnatcatcher 
and their compeers is simply beyond 
calculation. Recognize them we can 
and cherish them we can, but we 
can no more requite them nor dis¬ 
charge our obligations to them than 
we can pay for sunshine and rain, 
or reward the sea for its revivifying 
breath. 
We are apt to think of these 
roamers of the sage as leading a sort 
of haphazard life at all but nesting- 
time, but a little attention will show 
a method and timeliness in their 
movements. Certain brush-patches 
are purged daily for a season, prob¬ 
ably for so long a time as a certain 
distinctive moth is depositing its eggs 
in that section. Again it is a tiny 
white grub which is attacking the 
pepper trees. As long as the supply 
lasts the Gnatcatcher will appear 
daily and work at capacity. What 
more could we ask? 
It is only at nesting time, how¬ 
ever, that we can seem to get the 
Gnatcatcher definitely anchored. 
Even at that, a half-built nest is 
likely to be torn down piecemeal and 
set up in a new location more to the 
builder’s fancy. At such a time 
both birds work with unflagging 
energy and prolong their labors into the heated hours each day. It is 
a rebuke to a sluggard to see one dash up to a tree-fork and whirl about in 
the nest that is to be. Cobwebs, to us invisible, are laid off at a furious 
rate, and the structure grows as if by magic. As the walls of the nest 
rise to a height often much greater than its breadth, they “toe in” at the 
top—presumably that the babies may not be tempted to climb out of the 
fairy well too soon. The greatest care is displayed in the external decora¬ 
tion of the nest, that it may exactly harmonize in color with its surround¬ 
ings. If the site is a lichen-covered oak, the walls are draped with lichens 
until they appear as part and parcel with the tree. If a dead limb is 
chosen, grayish bark fibers are bound on with cobwebs, until the whole 
Taken in San Bernardino County 
Photo by Pierce 
A COMPETENT INSPECTOR 
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