352 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



more retiring than the preceding and less noisy than the Red-eye, it 

 is not mucli olwerved. It is by some considered the handsomest of 

 nil our Yireos, and a male in full spring plumage is pleasing to look 

 at, but I prefer the succeeding species. The Yellow-throated Vireo, 

 though not abundant, seems to be generally distributed throughout 

 Ontario. It has been found at Ottawa by Mr. White; at London 

 Mr. Saunders reports it as a common summer resident ; and it is 

 also included in Mr. Thompson's " List of Birds of Manitoba,' where, 

 however, it is mentioned as being rare or accidental. The female 

 differs but little in plumage from the male, the colors being less 

 decided. 



VTREO SOLITARIUS (Wils.). 

 2()0. Blue-headed Vireo. (Oi*'.") 



Above, olive-green ; crown and siile.s of head, l)luisli-a.sh in marked conti-ast ; 

 a Ijroad white line from nostrils to and aronnd eye and a dusky loial line ; 

 l.elow, white; flanks waslied with olivaceous, and auxiliaries and crissum, pale 

 vellow ; wings and tail, dusky, most of the feathers edged with white or 

 whitish, and two cons])icuous bars of the same across tips of ;-middle and gi-eat 

 eoverts ; bill and feet, blackisli horn color. Lengtii, '^^-5^ ; wing, 2|-.S ; tail, 

 2:J-2i ; spurious quill, h-'n, about I as long as second. 



Has. — P'astern United States to the Plains. In winter, south to Mexico 

 anil (Guatemala. 



Xest and eggs, similai- to those of the other Vireos, resembling those of the 

 Yellow-throat more than either of the otheis. 



This is a stout, hardy-looking bird, apparisntly better adapted to 

 live in the north than any other member of the family. It arrives 

 from the south with the earliest of the Warbleis, and in some years 

 is quite common during the first half of May, aftei- which it is not 

 seen again till the fall. While here it is much among the evergreens, 

 leisurely seeking its food, and is usually silent, ])ut when at home it 

 is said to have a very ])leasant song. 



8ome of the specimens procured in spiing are beautiful birds ; the 

 plumage is .soft and silky, and the difierent shades of color delicate, 

 but in others it is worn and lagged, as if they had been roughing it 

 during the winter. Quite a number of these birds cross our soutln'rn 

 border in spring and fall, but I have no record of their nesting in the 

 Province. It is more of an eastern species, being rare in Michigan 

 and Manitoba, but, according to Mr. Riflgway, "its known lange 

 during the Vjreeding season extends fr(;ni Eastern Massachusetts and 

 the region along the northern bolder of the Great Lakes northward 

 neailv to the limit of the tree growth." 



