Vireos WESTERN BIRDS 



on rump; under parts white, sides washed with olive; 

 one or two wing bars; lores gray and white. About five 

 inches long. 



It was my pleasure one July day to see and hear a 

 pair of these little midgets as they foraged among the 

 bushes of a little canyon in the foothills of the Sierra 

 Madre Mountains above Altadena, California. It 

 seemed as if they were rather out of their habitat, but 

 there they were, a delight to all beholders. The bub- 

 bling ecstatic song rang out again, and again, the first 

 part of it asking a question, the second answering it. 

 It reminded me of the song of the Warbling Vireo, but 

 was shorter and snappier. The plumage, also, made one 

 think of the Warbling, but lack of the white line over 

 the eye helped to place the bird where it belonged. 



GENUS VIREO : GRAY VIREO. 



Gray Vireo: Vireo vicinior. 

 FAMILY— VIREOS. 



The Gray Vireo is somewhat larger than Least and is 

 not so greenish as most of his tribe. The wing bars are 

 wanting, or indistinct; lores and eye-ring white. It is 

 found only in southern California, southern Nevada, 

 the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and southeastern 

 Colorado, south. 



It frequents lower altitudes than does Cassin's, pre- 

 ferring the valleys, wide canyons, and level mesas to the 

 mountains. Henshaw thinks the song of the Gray Vireo 

 is the finest of all the Vireos because of its beauty and 

 variety of notes, and mellowness of expression. 



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