154 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



(a). Nearly six inches long. Olive-green above, becoming 

 bluish-ash on the rump. Throat and breast, bright j-ellow ; 

 belly, white. E3^e-ring, etc., ^'ellow. AVings and tail generally 

 dark ; former with two white bars. 



(b). The nest of this species is pensile, but rather larger 

 and deeper than those of the other vireos, being between 3 and 

 3j inches wide, and nearly as deep. It is placed in the fork 

 of a horizontal branch, from three to fifteen feet above the 

 ground, as often in the orchard as in the woods, though I have 

 found it in pines. It is composed of ilarrow strips of thin 

 bark, such as that of the cedar or large vines, is lined with 

 pine-needles or grasses, and is usually' ornamented on the 

 outside with caterpillar's silk and large pieces of lichen. The 

 four eggs, which are generally laid here in the first week of 

 June, average '80 X '60 of an inch, and are white, with black 

 and either purplish or brownish spots, which are sometimes, 

 but not usuall}^ quite numerous (about the crown). 



(c). The Yellow-throated Vireos reach Eastern Massachu- 

 setts in the second week of May, and leave it in September. 

 Thej'' are locally distributed through our State, and are rare in 

 certain neighborhoods. They are (perhaps) our handsomest 

 vireos, and certainly possess great charms as singers. They 

 excel all their relations in architectural taste and skill, and 

 construct a beautiful nest, ornamented outwardly with lichens, 

 plant-down, and caterpillar's silk, but plainly or even roughly 

 finished inside — thus differing from that of the hummingbird, 

 which it otherwise resembles very much, cxcei^t in being pen- 

 sile. It is altogether one of the prettiest nests to be found 

 among our specimens of bird-architecture. It is extremely 

 interesting to watch it in the progress of its construction. 

 The birds are occupied about a week in that process, beginning 

 by firmly twining dry grasses around the twigs from which it 

 is to be suspended, and always working downwards until the 

 frame is completed. It is almost impossible, even on watching 

 them closely, to tell exactly how they weave the grasses to- 

 gether, or how they attach many of their ornamentations. 

 Wonderful is that innate skill which enables them, with their 



