PERCHING BIRDS 
749a. Sitka Kinglet. Regulas calendula 
grinnelli. 
Range. — Pacific coast, breeding in Alaska. 
Said to be brighter than the preceding va 
riety. 
749b. Dusky Kinglet. Regulus calendula 
obscurus. 
Range. — Guadalupe Island, Lower California. 
This species nests during March in the large 
cypress and pine groves at high elevations 
above the ground. The nests are similar in 
construction to those of the common Ruby- 
crown, and the eggs are scarcely different from 
some specimens of that species; white, dotted 
and wreathed with reddish brown. Size .56 
x .43. 
751. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. 
Polioptila ccerulea ccerulea. 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
Range. — United States, east of the Rockies, breeding from the Gulf to the 
Middle and Central States; casually north to Massachusetts and Minnesota. 
These graceful birds are bluish gray above with a black forehead and central 
tail feathers, and white underparts. They are common in wooded districts in 
the south, where they saddle their beautiful nests upon horizontal branches or 
in crotches usually at quite an elevation from the ground; they 
resemble large Ruby-throated Hummers’ nests but the walls are 
much higher and thicker; they are made of plant fibres and 
down, lined with cottony substances and hair, and covered on 
the outside with lichens to match the limb upon which it is 
placed. Their eggs are bluish white, specked with reddish chest- 
nut. Size .58 x .45. Data. — Chattanooga, Tenn., April 30, 1900. 
Nest of moss, covered with lichens and lined with hair and feathers; 20 feet 
from the ground in a small tree. 
Bluish white 
751a. Western Gnatcatcher. Polioptila ccerulea obscura. 
Range. — Western United States and Lower California. 
The habits and eggs of this sub-species are the same as those of the eastern 
bird, and the nests do not differ except, perhaps, in less ornamentation of the 
exterior. 
752. Plumbeous Gnatcatcher. Polioptila plumbea. 
Range. — Mexican boundary from western Texas to southern California. 
This species has a bright shining black crown and more black 
on the tail than the eastern Gnatcatcher. They saddle their 
nests upon the branches of trees or in upright forks, usually at an 
elevation of ten feet or more from the ground; the nests are 
made of plant fibres and fine bark strips, compactly felted to- 
Greenish blue gether, and with little, if any, ornamental lichens on the exterior. 
Their eggs are pale greenish blue, spotted with reddish brown, and vary from 
three to five in number. Size .54 x .44. 
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