454 



LAND BIRDS 



634. GRAY yiREO.— Vireovicinior, 

 Family : The Vireos. 



Length: 5.60-5.75. 



Adults: SiiJiilar to least vireo, but lores and eye-ring entirely white ; 



wings brownish, with wing-band indistinct or wanting. 

 Young: Similar to adults, but upper parts with brownish tinge and 

 wing-bar buffy white. 

 Geographical Distribution : Southern California, Arizona, 

 New Mexico, Western Texas, and Mexico. 



California Breeding Range : 

 Southern California along 

 the San Bernardino moun- 

 tains. 

 Breeding Season : March to 



June. 

 Nest: Made of co&rse dry 

 grasses and shreds of bark ; 

 lined with finer grasses ; 

 placed in thorny bushes or 

 trees, 4 to 6 feet from the 

 ground. 

 Eggs: 3 or 4; white, thinly 

 spotted with reddish brown, 

 chiefly at the larger end. 

 Size 0.72 X 0.53. 



The level mesas and 

 the wide canons of 

 Southern California are the haunts of 

 the Gray Vireo. Lacking the calm 

 patience of its family, this species hunts 

 nervously among the scant foliage for 

 food, flying restlessly from one clump 

 of the sparse growth of brush to an- 

 634. Gray Vireo. ^^^^^ ^^^ singing its quaint roundelay 



" The best songster of all . • , ■ i i_ j. j 



the vireos.'' whcucver it stops loug enough to do 



