36o THE WESTERN WARBLING VIREO. 



fainih" is tht- attentiDii paid to the outside instead of the inside of the nest. The 

 outside is carefully adorned with lichens, old rags, pieces of wasp nests, or bits 

 of newspaper, with no idea of furthering concealment, for the result is often 

 very conspicuous. The walls are not over a third of an inch thick, but are so 

 strong that they not infrequently weather the storms of three or four seasons. 

 When we came upon a female sitting cnntentedly in her nest in the center 

 of a charming birch tangle in Chelan Count}', we had as good as photographed 

 the eggs. We were particularly elated at our good fortune because the eggs 

 had not yet been taken within the limits of the State. When we had watched 

 the mild-eyed mother for ten minutes, and had lessened the distance to five 

 feet, we began to suspect young ; ]mt when she tiitted, we found nothing at all. 

 She was only fooling. 



No. 139. 



WESTERN WARBLING VIREO. 



A. O. U. No. 627a. Vireosylva gilva swainsonii (Baird). 



Description. — Adult: Above, dull ashy, almost fuscous, tinged with oliva- 

 ceous, same on i)ileum, — the last-named color brightest on interscapulars, rump, 

 and edgings of secondaries and rectrices ; wings and tail fuscous, the primaries 

 with faint whitish edgings : no wing-bars ; first primary spurious, — only about a 

 third as long as the others; point of wing formed by tbird, fourth, and fifth 

 ])rimaries; second shorter than sixth: below white with slight tinges on sides, — 

 buffy on sides of head and neck, olive-fuscous on sides of breast, sulphur-yellow 

 on sides of bellv and flanks, and sometimes vaguely on breast ; lores and space 

 about eye whitish, enclosing obscure dusky line thru eye ; bill dusky above, 

 lighter below; feet blackish. Length 5.00-6.00 (127-152.4); wing 2.64 (67); 

 tail 1.94 (49.3): Ijill -.W fio); tarsus .69 (17.5). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size ; general absence of positive characteris- 

 tics, — altogether the plainest-colored bird of the American avifauna. 



Nesting. — Nest: a pensile pouch of bark-strips, grasses, vegetable fibers, and 

 trash, carefully lined with plant-down; hung usually from fork of small limb, at 

 any height. Eggs: 3 or 4, white, sparingly and distinctly dotted or spotted, or, 

 rarely, blotched with black, umber, or rerldish brown, chiefly at the larger end. 

 Av. size .75 X .55 (19x13.9). Season: June 1-20; one brood. 



General Range. — Western United States and Canada (British Columbia, 

 Alberta and Athabasca), breeding south to southern border of United States 

 and southern extremity of Lower California: south in winter thru Mexico to 

 Vera Cruz and Oaxaca. 



Range in Washington. — Summer resident thruout the State in deciduous 

 timber, chieflv at lower levels. 



Migrations. — Spring: Yakima, May 6, 1900; Seattle, May 5, 1905; 

 Yakima. May 4, 1906: Tacoma, ]\lay 5, 1907: Seattle, May 3, 1908. 



