THE ANTHONY VIREO. 367 



Recognition Marks. — P_\gmy to \varl3ler size ; ding)- coloration : wliitish 

 wing-bars serve to distingnish bird from I'lrcosykv g. szcaiiisoiiii. but throw it 

 into confusion in summer with the Western Fl^-catcher (Empidonax difticilis), 

 which it otherwise closely resembles, and in winter with the Sitkan Kinglet 

 (Regiilits c. griiinclli). From the Flycatcher it may be distinguished by its shorter, 

 narrower and yet thicker bill, and by its more restrained yellowness ; from the 

 Kinglet by its greater size and much stouter bill, more prominent wing-bars, and 

 rather less prominent eye-ring ; and from both by its demure ways. 



Nesting. — Nest: a semipensile basket of interwoven mosses lined with grasses 

 (nine feet high in tir tree — one example known). Eggs: 2-51 ? ) ; .72 x .52 (18 x 

 12.9). Season: June ( probably also earlier ). 



General Range. — Pacific Coast district from western Oregon to south- 

 western ISritish Columbia at lower levels (not at all confined to oak woods as 

 variously reported). 



Range in Washington. — West-side, as above; strictly resident. 



Authorities. — ? Towusend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VIII. 1839, iq^ 

 (Columbia River). Bowles (C. W. and J. H.), Auk, X\'. 1898, 138. Ra. P.. E. 



Specimens. — U. of W. Prov. D. E. 



IN approaching the study of Anthony's \^ireo one must forget all he 

 knows or thinks he knows about Vireos in general. This bird is siii generis. 

 and deviations from all known rules are its delight. It has been, in fact, until 

 quite recently, a sort of wc^tidland spliinx. an ornithological invsterv, the sub- 

 ject of much inquiry and hazard. Its presence in Washinglon was quite over- 

 looked by Cooper and Suckley, and Mr. Rathbun's appears to be the record"* of 

 first occurrence, that of a bird taken May [4, 1895. I t<:)ok a specimen on 

 Capitol Hill on the third day of June of the same year: and since that time 

 appearances have become a matter of course to the initiated. Samuel N. 

 Rhoads'', writing in 1893, considered Anthony's Vireo a rare visitor to Van- 

 couver Island, where he secured a specitiien in 1892 near Victoria. Fannin"^ 

 records it as "a summer resident on Vancouver Island." As matter of fact, 

 the bird is resident the year round wherever it occurs. I saw it near A^ictoria 

 during the coldest weather of 1905-6, and find it regularly at Seattle and Ta- 

 coma during the winter season. J. H. Bowles secured a specimen, a male in 

 fuU song, at American Lake on January the 26th, 1907. Moreover, this bird 

 had a bare belly as tho it might ha\'e been assisting with incubation. 



The very fact that these birds winter with us argues that they have been 

 here for always and always, and the darkening of plumage (as compared 

 with the type form, J", huttoni) testifies further to their long residence. 



Anthony's A^ireo is leisurely, almost sluggish at times, in its movements. 



a. Auk. Vol. XIX., Apr., 1902, p. 13S. 



b. Proc. -Vad. Nat. Sc!. Phila., 1893, p. 54. 



c. Cat. B. C. lairds Prov. Mils., \'ictaria, 1904, p. 52. 



