438 Birds of Colorado 



Grey Vireo. Vireo vicinior. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 634— Colorado Record— H. G. Smith 08, p. 189. 



Description. — Male — Above slaty-grey, with a hardly perceptible 

 wash of olive on the riimp ; a white orbital ring and dirty-white lores ; 

 wings and tail dusky, edged with whitish ; greater coverts tipped with 

 whitish, but hardly forming a distinct wing-band ; below dull white 

 tinged with grey on the throat and breast and more or less with ohve 

 on the flanks ; iris brown, bill dusky, markedly pale along the cutting- 

 edges, legs dusky. Length 4-90 ; wing 2-60 ; tail 2-30 ; culmen -40 ; 

 tarsus -72. 



The sexes are aUke, and the young are very similar to the adults. 



Distribution. — From southern California and western Texas south- 

 wards into north-west Mexico and Lower California. 



The inclusion of the Grey Vireo in the Colorado f aima is also due to 

 the indefatigable coUectiag of Mr. H. G. Smith, who obtained two pairs 

 of this species at Lamar on the Arkansas River in Prowers co., between 

 May 16th and 20th, 1907, thus extending the range of the species 

 considerably northwards ; the nearest recorded locality in New Mexico 

 is Las Vegas. 



Family MNIOTILTID^. 



This family contains the Warblers or, more properly- 

 speaking, the American Warblers, as the birds knowai 

 by that name in Europe belong to quite another family. 



The American Warblers are all small birds ; except 

 Icteria and Seiurus, they hardly average over five inches 

 in length. It is not possible to characterize them exactly 

 and definitely, as they present a number of minor modi- 

 fications of form in the direction of other famiUes, but 

 they have the following external characteristics in 

 common : Bill small, generally acute,the breadth and 

 depth about equal ; no lobe or tooth along the cutting- 

 edge, never strongly hooked at the tip and never very 

 much flattened ; gape comparatively short and usually 

 with a few rictal bristles ; wings with nine primaries, 

 the inner secondaries or tertials never greatly elongated ; 

 tarsus scutellate ; rectrices twelve. 



The members of this family are confined to America, 

 and have their centre of abundance perhaps in the eastern 



