228 



ZOOLOGY BIRDS. 



constantly in the tops of the bushes from six to twelve feet in height. On 

 the Colorado Chiquito River, in New Mexico, July 8, I found a family 

 of these birds, the young, though fledged, being still dependent on the old 

 for food. Upon approaching the bush in which they were lodged, the par- 

 ents manifested the utmost solicitude, and flew to meet me, uttering a variety 

 of notes, now flying to the edge of the thicket, and remonstrating with me 

 with harsh cries of anger and alarm, now returning to their young, and with 

 earnest warning notes endeavoring to lead them away from a spot which to 

 them seemed fraught with danger. My suspicions that they were not the 

 Plumbeous Vireos had at first been aroused by hearing the song which 

 seemed to me one of the most beautiful I had ever heard from any of the 

 family. It might perhaps be best compared with the finest efforts of the 

 Solitary Vireo, yet to the beauty and variety of notes of that bird it had 

 added all the charm and mellowness of expression which is pre-eminent in 

 the song of the Yellow-throated Vireo. During the few moments I spent 

 in observing their actions, the female led away two of the brood, leaving the 

 male with two of the nestlings, which I secured. Fall specimens differ from 

 the type which is in summer dress only in having the lower dorsal surface, 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, and the outer webs of the inner secondaries, except 

 the exterior pair, washed faintly with green, which is also just perceptible 

 on the sides and flanks. The young in the first plumage do not differ mate- 

 rially from the adult. 



'Worn. 



